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 |