2 Pronunciation

2 Pronunciation

Norwegian vowels

The Norwegian alphabet contains nine vowels:

A, E, I, O, U, Y, Æ, Ø, Å

The vowel letters may indicate short or long vowel sounds. All nine vowels may occur as long or short. In the examples below, the colon, < ː >, indicates a long vowel. Absence of colon after the vowel indicates a short vowel.

The vowel is usually short before two or more consonant letters:
< takk >  /'tɑk/  thank you 
< legge >  /'lege/  put 
In other cases, the vowel is normally long:
< ta >  /'tɑː/  take 
< tak >  /'tɑːk/  roof 
< lege >  /'leːge/  doctor 


In addition to the distinction between short and long vowel, some vowel letters in Norwegian may also represent other vowel sounds:

1) In many words a short < o > is pronounced like < å >:
< komme >  /'kome/  come 
< jobbe >  /'jobe/  work 
2) A short < u > may be pronounced as < o >:
< nummer >  /'numer/  number 
3) In many words with < e > + r, both short and long < e > is pronounced like < æ >:
< terminal >  /tærmi'nɑːl/  terminal 
< er >  /'æːr/  am, are, is 
< her >  /'hæːr/  here 
4) In one important word < e > is pronounced < i >:
< de >  /'diː/  they 

The Norwegian and English vowel letters compared

Norwegian
letter		 English
a  Like < a > in hard 
e  Like < e > in bed 
i  Like < ee > in see 
o  No equivalent 
u  Approximately as the final vowel in new 
y  No equivalent 
æ  Like < a > in bad 
ø  No equivalent 
å  Like < aw > in saw