Euphoria and Dysphoria in Norway's Vestfold Dialect - part II
Dysphoric Emotions
Dysphoric emotion terms in Norwegian, like euphoric terms, also contain a sense of expectation in them, though not necessarily agitation. Again, I thought it important to be able to distinguish those emotions which cause agitation from those which don't, and also to identify those which seem to be internalized experiences.
Lei
When lei is used reflexively, it is meant to convey a feeling of what we might think of as a combination of tiredness, sadness, hopelessness, and shame. This would usually occur following some sort of disappointment, such as upon realizing certain inadequacies in one's own character or situation. Perhaps it embodies a little bit of the sense of 'feeling sorry for yourself'. McKay's bilingual dictionary, offers approximates such as "wicked" and "awkward", but these don't exactly convey the meaning of feeling lei. A person going through a romantic break or perhaps enduring criticism would be in a position to say:
"Jeg blev så lei meg."
(I / became / so / lei / myself.)
A person who is lei often has what we call a 'hang-dog' countenance. Common expressions of this include:
"Han henger med nebbet."
(He / hangs / with / beak. {His beak is hanging down})
"Han blir lang i tryne nå."
(He / become / long / in / face / now.)
The word tryne (face) would not normally be used for people, in fact, in most contexts it would be considered derogatory. A human face is usually called an ansiktet, a pig's face is a tryne.
"Han foler seg så langt nede i dag."
(He / feels / himself / so / long / down / to- /-day.)
"Han ligger langt ned pa ranna."
(He / lies / long / down / on / the edge.)
When lei is applied to another person (or thing), such as in the sentence below
the meaning changes to a sense of wanting to get away from someone (or something thing) whose presence is becoming tiresome:
"Jeg blev så lei av han. Jeg ma pr¢ve og komme vekk ifra han."
( I / became / so / lei / of / him. I / must / try / to / come / away / from / him)
A third sense of the word is when lei is used for someone, with an intent similar to those of pity and sympathy,
"Stakkers. Jeg blev så lei for det hente deg."
(Poor / thing. / I / became / so / lei / for/ that / happened / you.)
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