In Danish, at least seventeen different vowel qualities and twenty-one consonants can be distinguished in distinct pronunciation, representing ten distinctive vowel phonemes and fifteen consonant phonemes. These phonemes differ further in allophones depending on length, conjunction, occurrence, combination, and so on. In addition, the prosody of Danish does not have a phonetic pitch like Swedish and Norwegian, but does have stress, which is phonetic and distinguishes words. The stød, a suprasegmental feature occasionally realized as a full glottal stop, is also phonetic and distinguishes words. While there are main rules for the position of the stress, only some main rules exist when it comes to predicting whether or not the stød is present. Finally, the Danish pronunciation of the letter r also differs from Swedish and Norwegian, as it is not trilled, making it sound a bit like the German r. In many cases, when the stress is not positioned correctly, or the stød is not present when it is supposed to be, or the other way around, the word you are trying to pronounce will have a completely different meaning than the one you actually want to communicate. It is also a great way of making people laugh when they hear you speak, as to many people Danish often sounds like you are trying to speak with a hot potato in your mouth.
1) Consonants
Let’s have a look at the basic pronunciation of the twenty consonants of the Danish alphabet.
|
Letter
|
Called
|
Pronounced
|
Example 1
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Example 2
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Comment
|
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B b
|
be
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/b/
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like “b” in “baby”
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“w” in “why”
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|
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C c
|
se
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/s/
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like “s” in “snake”
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/k/ the “k” in “kick”
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typically used in loanwords or personal and geographical names
|
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D d
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de
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/d/
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like “d” in “door”
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“th” in “the”
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|
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F f
|
æf
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/f/
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like “f” in “father”
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|
|
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G g
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ge
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/g/
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like “g” in “go”
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“sh” when used in loanwords
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|
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H h
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hå
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/h/
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like “h” in “hold”
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|
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J j
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jåd
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/j/
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like “y” in “you”
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“j” in “job” when used in loanwords
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|
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K k
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kå
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/k/
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like “k” in “kick”
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|
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L l
|
æl
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/l/
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like “l” in “law”
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|
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M m
|
æm
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/m/
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like “m” in “mother”
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|
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N n
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æn
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/n/
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like “n” in “now”
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|
|
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P p
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pe
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/p/
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like “p” in “pick”
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|
|
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Q q
|
ku
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/k/
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like “q” in “quiz”
|
|
typically used in loanwords or personal and geographical names
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R r
|
ær
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as an uvular trill or uvular approximant
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In general the pronunciation of the Danish “r” is /r/ like the “r” in the German word “reisen” (”to travel”)
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S s
|
æs
|
/s/
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like “s” in “sound”
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T t
|
te
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/t/
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like “t” in “tea”
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V v
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ve
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/v/
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like “v” in “velvet”
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W w
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Dobbelt ve
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/v/
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like “w” in “wow”
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it is typically used in loanwords or personal and geographical names
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X x
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æks
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/ks/
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like “x” in “xylophone”
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|
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Z z
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sæt
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/s/
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like “z” in “zoo”
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2) Vowels
The Danish alphabet has 9 vowels, of which around 20 different vowel sounds can be derived.
|
Letter
|
Called
|
Pronounced
|
Example
|
|
A a
|
a
|
/a/ or /a:/
|
like “a” in “and” or “a” in “father”
|
|
E e
|
e
|
/ə/, /e/, /ɛ/, /eː/ or /ɛː/
|
like the first “e” in “electric”
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I i
|
i
|
/i/, /iː/ or /e/
|
like “e” in “e-mail”
|
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O o
|
o
|
/o/ or /oː/
|
like “o” in the Japanese word “obaasan” (”grandmother”)
|
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U u
|
u
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/u/, /uː/ or /o/
|
like “oo” in “hooligan”
|
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Y y
|
y
|
/y/, /yː/ or /ø/
|
like “u” in the French word “duchesse” (”duchess”)
|
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Æ æ
|
æ
|
/ɛ/ or /ɛː/
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like the first “e” in “energy”
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Ø ø
|
ø
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/ø/, /œ/, /øː/ or /œː/
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like “eu” in the French word “deux” (”two”), but slightly longer
|
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Å å
|
å
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/ɔ/ or /ɔː/
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like “o” in “oh no”
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3) Stress
As mentioned in a previous lesson, Danish does not have a phonetic pitch like Swedish and Norwegian, but a stress which is phonemic and helps distinguish between words that would sound the same if not emphasizing certain syllables in a word. The position of the stress depends on the words’ origin, prefixes and suffixes, and their position in a sentence.
4) Stød (glottal stop)
Also as mentioned previously, the Danish stød is a suprasegmental feature used to keep words apart like the stress, making it phonemic. The stød may accompany syllables with a long vowel or syllables that end with a voiced consonant. As in any language, there are things that just have to be learned, and in Danish the stød is one of those things because it is not possible to predict whether or not it is present.
5) Danish dialects
In general, the Danish dialects can be divided into three distinct main groups: Insular Danish, Jutlandic, and the Bornholmsk dialect (Bornholmian). These, however, can be further subdivided into about thirty dialects. The traditional Danish dialects have gradually been replaced by a regional pronunciation of Standard Danish. Standard Danish or Rigsdansk is the common writing system, that was introduced around 1500 at the royal court and the chancery. Since these were in Copenhagen it was natural that it became based on some dialects that were spoken in and around the capital. And today this is the standard as to how we write Danish even though the spoken dialects in and around Copenhagen are distinct dialects in themselves named after areas of Copenhagen, and not Rigsdansk. Even the Queen speaks in a dialect.
6) Silent letters
Like English, you can’t always immediately tell the pronunciation of a word based on spelling. This is due largely to the fact that Danish makes use of a number of silent letters, many of which follow no pattern and which simply have to be learned on a case-by-case basis. Despite this, they are crucial to indicating meaning and will change the meaning of the word if read incorrectly. Silent letters can occur both at the beginning, the middle, and at the end of a word, and also indicate stress and stød—a feature of Danish pronunciation that is frequently realized as a glottal stop. English speakers may be familiar with the cockney pronunciation of words like “butter” and “bottle.” In most cases, stød will sound like this—a forced closing of the vocal cords as a substitution for the pronunciation of a particular sound.
For example:
Silent d: fuld, kalde, plads, løbende.
Silent e: billede.
Silent g: spurgte, siger, vældig.
Silent h: hjerte, hvem, hvad, hvor, hvorfor, hvordan.
Silent r: grosserer, forvirrer, kører.
Silent s: retssal.
Silent t: ordentlig, syntes.
Silent v: gulv, halv.
The best way to overcome this is by consulting a dictionary or simply learning from your mistakes.
Say Hello in Danish
Introduce Yourself
Danish Alphabet
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