Appendix:Norwegian pronunciation
This is a guide to pronunciation of Norwegian. There is no centrally mandated pronunciation of Norwegian. In Wiktionary, the pronunciation given for Norwegian Bokmål generally reflects the pronunciation of Central Eastern Norway, in and around Oslo. The pronunciation given for Norwegian Nynorsk generally reflects the pronunciation in the parts of Norway where Nynorsk is mostly used. Other pronunciations may also be possible.
ConsonantsEdit
PlosivesEdit
Phoneme | Transcription, example and translation |
---|---|
p | par, [pʰɑːr], "pair; couple" |
b | bok, [buːk], "book" |
t | tam, [tʰɑmː], "tame" |
d | dam, [dɑmː], "pond" |
k | katt, [kʰɑtː], "cat" |
ɡ | god, [ɡuː], "good" |
/p, t, k/ are all aspirated and pronounced almost identical to the equivalent English sounds. /b, d, ɡ/ are distinctly voiced, moreso than the English equivalents of most dialects.
FricativesEdit
Phoneme | Transcription, example and translation |
---|---|
f | fot, [fuːt], "foot" |
ʋ | våt, [ʋoːt], "wet" |
s | sol, [suːl], "sun" |
ʂ | sju, [ʂʉː], "seven" |
ç | kjapp, [çɑpː], "fast" |
j | jord, [juːr], "soil" |
h | han, [hɑnː], "he" |
/r/Edit
Phoneme | Transcription, example and translation |
---|---|
r | rød, [ɾøː], [ʁøː], "red" |
The pronunciation of /r/ varies in the various dialects. In eastern dialects the pronunciation is more forward, [ɾ] or [r] while the pronunciation in western dialects is further back, [ʁ] [χ].
In some dialects /s, t, d, n, l/ merge with /r/ into retroflex assimilations [ʂ, ɖ, ʈ, ɳ, ɭ].
LateralsEdit
Phoneme | Transcription, example and translation |
---|---|
l | land, [lɑnː], "country" |
NasalsEdit
Phoneme | Transcription, example and translation |
---|---|
m | mann, [mɑnː], "man" |
n | nese, [ˈneːsə], "nose" |
ŋ | lang, [lɑŋː], "long" |
VowelsEdit
Phoneme | Transcription, example and translation |
---|---|
iː | ti, [tʰiː], "ten" |
yː | ny, [nyː], "new" |
ʉː | hus, [hʉːs], "house" |
eː | ser, [seːr], "see" |
æː | være, [ˈʋæːrə], "to be" |
ɑː | har, [hɑːr], "have" |
øː | brød, [brøː], "bread" |
uː | god, [ɡuː], "good" |
oː | nå, [noː], "now" |
Phoneme | Transcription, example and translation |
---|---|
ɪ | litt, [lɪtː], "a little, a bit" |
ʏ | hytte, [ˈhʏtːə], "cabin" |
ʉ | munn, [ˈmʉnː], "mouth" |
ɛ | redd, [rɛdː], "afraid, scared" |
æ | vært, [ʋæʈː], "been (past ptcpl.)" |
ɑ | mann, [mɑnː], "man" |
œ | brønn, [brœnː], "well" |
ʊ | tok, [tʊkː], "took (simple past)" |
ɔ | toll, [tɔlː], "customs" |
ə | påle, [poːlə], "pole" |
Phoneme | Transcription, example and translation |
---|---|
æʉ | sau, [sæʉ], "sheep" |
æɪ | jeg, [jæɪ], "I" |
œʏ | gøy, [gœʏ] invalid IPA characters (g), replace g with ɡ, "fun" |
Stress and tonemesEdit
Most dialects of Norwegian separate between two distinct tonemes. The way they are realised differs considerably between different dialects. The table gives only a few examples.
Stress and tone | ||
---|---|---|
IPA | Examples | Examples of realisation |
[ˈ] | bønder [ˈbønːər] [ˈbønːəʁ] |
Tone 1 / acute accent: |
[²] | bønner [²bønːər] [²bønːəʁ] |
Tone 2 / grave accent:
|