's narrow shape and glacial "overdeepening" explains why it is named a fjord, even though it is not a saltwater inlet Various
Sami and
Norwegian language terms distinguish different types of lake, and often feature in
place names: •
Fjord: Although normally used to describe a saltwater inlet, in eastern Norway a long, narrow
fresh water lake is also called a
fjord (though this differs from the
English use of the word: see
fjord).
Randsfjorden, mapped on the left, is the largest example of an inland fjord. •
Sjø: Although normally used to describe a
sea,
Sjø or
Sjøen is also a large fresh-water lake that is not as narrow as a fjord. Examples include
Vansjø in
Østfold and
Selbusjøen in
Trøndelag. •
Mjøs: The form
mjøs is also used for larger lakes.
Mjøsa itself is a large lake between the towns of
Gjøvik,
Lillehammer and
Hamar. Other examples of the usage include
Vangsmjøse in
Vang Municipality,
Innlandet. •
Vatn: A
vatn (or
vann) is a small lake. You can walk around a
vatn in a couple of hours.
Sognsvann near
Oslo is one example of such usage.
Vatn might be used for large lakes further north, such as
Altevatnet in
Troms and
Snåsavatnet in
Trøndelag. •
Tjern: (from the
Old Norse tjarn and
tjǫrn) is a small lake. It is also written
tjenn,
tjørn and
tjønn. The English cognate is
tarn. • Combinations:
Østensjøvannet is an interesting variation that concatenates
sjø and
vann. Møsvann in
Vinje Municipality,
Telemark combines
mjøsa with
vann. •
Jávrásj: (
Lule Sami, spoken in
Nordland) or
Jávrrás (
Northern Sami, more widespread): Where the place names of the
Sami people are used, these are limited to very small lakes, or ponds. None are listed here. •
Jávrre: (Lule Sami) or
jávri (Northern Sami): These refer to larger lakes. The largest lake in Norway predominantly known by its Sami name is
Siiddašjávri, which lies partly in Nordland but mostly in
Sweden.
Vuolep Sårjåsjávrre, also straddling the Nordland-Sweden border, is the largest with the Lule Sam ending -
jávrre. •
Luoppal: (North Sámi) is a narrow lake with one river running into it, one river running out from it. May be difficult to distinguish from a temporary widening of a river. ==Largest lakes==