4 Pronunciation

4 Pronunciation

Norwegian consonants

The Norwegian alphabet contains twenty consonant letters:

  B    
  C    
  D    
  F
  G
  H
  J
  K
  L
  M
  N
  P
  Q
  R
  S
  T
  V
  W
  X
  Z


The letters < c, q, w, x, z > are quite rare and mostly used in loanwords (camping, quiz, watt, xylofon, pizza).

Norwegian
letter		 English reference
b Like < b > in «buy»
c Before front vowels < i, e, y >  cf. /s/ in < circus >
Before back vowels <a, o, u>  cf. /k/ in < camping >
d Like < d > in «dog»
f Like < f > in «fine»
g Like < g >  in «girl»
h Like < h > in «hat»
j Like < y > in «yes»
k Like < k > in «kite»
l Like < l > in «live»
m Like < m > in «map»
n Like < n > in «now»
p Like < p > in «pen»
q In Norwegian, < qu > is pronounced as /kv/, cf. «quiz» - /kvis/
r Like Scottish «r». The tip of the tongue taps the alveolar ridge.
s Like < s > in «see»
t Like < t > in «tea»
v Like < v > in «violin»
w Like < v > in «violin»
x Like < x >  - /ks/ in «tax»
z Pronounced as /s/, cf. «zoom» - /su:m/

Silent letters

In Norwegian, several consonants may occur as so-called mute or silent letters; which means they are written, but not pronounced.

1) < d > is silent in < ld, nd, rd > and may be silent in the end of syllables after a vowel:

< kald > /'kɑl/ cold
< Trondheim > /'tronheim/ Trondheim
< bord > /'buːr/ table
< med > /'meː/ with


2) < g > is silent in < gj > and in adjectives ending in < ig >:

< gjøre > /'jøːre/  do
< hyggelig > /'hygeli/ nice


3) < h > is silent in < hj, hv >:

< hjelpe > /'jelpe/ help
< hvor > /'vur/ where


4) < t > is silent in definite form singular of neuter nouns:

< flyet >  /'flyːe/ the plane


5) < t > is also silent in one important word, < det >:

< det > /'deː/ it, that