when a Norwegian repeatedly uses "ja vel" to start sentences

[Harold Davis]

What does it mean when a Norwegian begins more than half of their sentences
with "yeah well" when they are speaking in English to a specific person of
their acquaintance?

The Norwegian person's English is functionally quite strong but not
completely fluent, and several Norwegian people have told me that they must
be translating from the Norwegian "ja vel". The Norwegian person has
unfortunately suffered from mental health problems for several years, and
has no Norwegian-speaking acquaintainces.

They usually say "ja vel" with a sigh in their voice. They don't speak like
this to everyone, just to one particular person of whom they see a lot. Do
the words express boredom, exasperation, uncertainty, resentment, or what?

Someone has asked my advice on this, but although I am familiar with Frieda
Goldman-Eisler's work on disfluencies, and other work in psycholinguistics,
my lack of knowledge of Norwegian (or any other Scandinavian language) is
bringing me up against a brick wall.

Serious answers only, please!

Thanks in advance.

Harry

[J. Anderson]

Post by Harold Davis
What does it mean when a Norwegian begins more than half of their sentences
with "yeah well" when they are speaking in English to a specific person of
their acquaintance?
The Norwegian person's English is functionally quite strong but not
completely fluent, and several Norwegian people have told me that they must
be translating from the Norwegian "ja vel". The Norwegian person has
unfortunately suffered from mental health problems for several years, and
has no Norwegian-speaking acquaintainces.
They usually say "ja vel" with a sigh in their voice. They don't speak like
this to everyone, just to one particular person of whom they see a lot. Do
the words express boredom, exasperation, uncertainty, resentment, or what?
Someone has asked my advice on this, but although I am familiar with Frieda
Goldman-Eisler's work on disfluencies, and other work in
psycholinguistics,
my lack of knowledge of Norwegian (or any other Scandinavian language) is
bringing me up against a brick wall.
Serious answers only, please!
Thanks in advance.
Harry

This would correspond to the use of 'OK' in the beginning of sentences --
I'm sure you have experienced that among English-speakers. It's a way of
telling your interlocutor that you've understood his/her statement or
question and that you're about to reply.

In Finnish one would use the word 'niin', in German 'na ja', in Russian 'nu'
and so on.

Uncertainty might be the original reason, but obviously it has turned into a
habit.

John