Danish phonology
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Contents |
[edit] Consonants
Danish has 17 to 19 consonants, depending on analysis:
| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Alveolar | Alveolo- palatal |
Palatal | Velar | Uvu- pharyngeal |
Glottal | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | pʰ | b̥ | tˢ | d̥ | kʰ | ɡ̊ | ||||||||||
| Nasals | m | n | ŋ | |||||||||||||
| Fricatives | f | s | ( ɕ ) | h | ||||||||||||
| Approximants | ʋ | ð | j | ʁ | ||||||||||||
| Lateral approximant |
l | |||||||||||||||
| Phoneme | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| Before stress | After stress | |
| /p/ | [pʰ] | [b̥] |
| /b/ | [b̥] | |
| /t/ | [tˢ] | [d̥] |
| /d/ | [d̥] | |
| /k/ | [kʰ] | [ɡ̊] |
| /ɡ/ | [ɡ̊] | |
| /f/ | [f] | [f] |
| /s/ | [s] | [s] |
| /h/ | [h] | |
| /v/ | [ʋ] | [ʋ, ʊ̯] |
| /ð/ | [ð̪] | |
| /j/ | [j] | [ɪ̯] |
| /ɣ/ | [ɪ̯, -, ʊ̯] | |
| /r/ | [ʁ] | [ɐ̯] |
| /l/ | [l] | [l] |
| /m/ | [m] | [m] |
| /n/ | [n] | [n] |
| /ŋ/ | [ŋ] | |
/p, t, k/ are voiceless and aspirated: [pʰ, tˢ, kʰ] (some scholars analyse them as voiceless aspirated lenis: [b̥ʰ, d̥ˢ, ɡ̊ʰ]). /b, d, ɡ/ are voiceless and lenis: [b̥, d̥, ɡ̊]. /p~b/, /t~d/ and /k~ɡ/ are distinguished only in word-initial position or at the beginning of a stressed syllable. Hence lappe 'patch' = labbe 'lap' [ˈlɑb̥ə], værten 'the host' = verden 'the world' [ˈʋaɐ̯d̥ən], lække 'leak' = lægge 'lay' [ˈlɛɡ̊ə].
The combination of /sj/ is realized as [ɕ], making it possible to postulate a tentative /ɕ/-phoneme in Danish.
/ʋ, ð, r/ may have slight frication, but are usually pronounced as pure approximants, and hence being rendered as [ʋ, ð̪, ʁ]. In the position after a vowel (except before a stressed vowel), /v/ and /r/ are normally pronounced [ʊ̯] and [ɐ̯]. In slow and careful speech /v/ is often = [ʋ]). /r/ = [ɐ] forms a diphthong with the preceding vowel: e.g. stor "big" [ˈsd̥oɐ̯ˀ], næring "nourishment" [ˈnɛɐ̯eŋ]. /a(:)r/ and /ɔ:r/ / /ɔr/ coalesce into the long vowels [a:] and [ɒ:] respectively. /ər/, /rə/ and /rər/ are all rendered as [ɐ], e.g. læger "doctors" = lære "teach, learn; doctrine" = lærer "teaches, learns; teacher" [ˈlɛ:ɐ].
/və/, /jə/ and /ðə/ (/əð/) are normally rendered as the vowels [ʊ], [ɪ] and [ð̩]. [ʊ], [ɪ] are pretty close to [o] and [e], e.g. leve "live" = Leo [le:ʊ]. /vəð/ and especially /jəð/ are frequently assimilated to [ð̞̩] (in the case of /vəð/ normally, but not exclusively, with an indication of a rounding at the outset), e.g. meget "much, very" [ˈmɑ:ð̞̩], Strøget "a central shopping street" [ˈsd̥ʁʌð̞ˀð̞̩]. Since word-final /ð/ is normally rendered as [d̥] in Jutlandic Standard Danish, these words are normally pronounced without assimilation there: [ˈmɑ:ɪd̥], [ˈsd̥ʁʌɪ̯ˀɪd̥].
The phoneme /ɣ/ has been lost from the pronunciation of all but the oldest speakers. After frontvowels (and /u(:)/), it has normally disappeared altogether, though it may be represented by [ɪ̯] after the long vowels /e:/, /ɛ:/, /a:/} in careful speech, especially word-finally. After backvowels (except /u(:)/), it has become [ʊ̯]. NB: eg and øg (like ej and øj) often represent the diphthongs [aɪ̯] and [ʌɪ̯], as in øje (eye) [ʌɪ̯ə].
[edit] Vowels
Danish has 16 vowels:
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
| Close (high) |
i i: | y y: | u u: | |||
| Close-mid | e e: | ø ø: | o o: | |||
| Mid | ɛ ɛ: | œ œ: | ə | ɔ ɔ: | ||
| Open-mid | æ æ: | ɶ | ʌ | ɒ: | ||
| Open (low) |
a | ɑ ɑ: | ||||
| Phoneme | Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| - | Before /r/ | After /r/ | |
| /i:/ | [i:] | [i:] | [i:] |
| /i/ | [i] | [i] | [i] |
| /e:/ | [e:] | [ɛ: > æ:(ɪ)] | [ɛ: > æ: (ɪ)] |
| /e/ | [e] | [ɛ > æ] | [ɛ > æ] |
| /ɛ:/ | [ɛ:] | [ɛ: > æ:(ɪ̯)] | [ɛ: > æ:(ɪ̯)] |
| /ɛ/ | [ɛ] | [a] | [a > ɑɪ̯] / [a > ɑ]1) |
| /a:/ | [æ:] | [ɑ:] | [ɑ:] |
| /a/ | [a > æ] / [ɑ]2) | [ɑ] | [ɑ] |
| /y:/ | [y:] | [y:] | [y:] |
| /y/ | [y] | [y] | [y] |
| /ø:/ | [ø:] | [œ:] | [œ:] |
| /ø/ | [ø > œ] | [ɶ] | [œ] |
| /ö:/4) | - | [œ:] | - |
| /ö/5) | [œ] | - | [ɶ] |
| /u:/ | [u:] | [u:] | [o:] |
| /u/ | [u] | [u] | [o] |
| /o:/ | [o:] | [o:] | [o:] |
| /o/ | [ɔ] | [o] | [ɔ] |
| /ɔ:/ | [ɔ:] | [ɒ:] | [ɔ:] |
| /ɔ/ | [ʌ] | [ɒ] | [ʌ] |
| /ə/ | [ə] | [ɐ] | [ɐ] |
| 1) Before labials and alveolars. 2) Before labials and velars. 3) Before /v/. |
|||
The 16 vowels, of which 15 exist in a short variant and 12 in a long variant, are distributed on 11 short and 10 long phonemes, many of which have a more open allophone in the position before and after /r/.
[edit] Long and short vowels
Long vowels occur in syllables which were originally open, i.e. there was not more than one short consonant after the vowel. Since the long consonants have been shortened, vowel quantity has become phonological: bane "course" ≠ bande "swear", ile "hasten" ≠ "ilde" "badly".
There are long vowels in some syllables which were originally closed, especially in neutres of adjective stems ending in /s/ and /n/ (e.g. pænt "nice" [ˈpʰɛ:ˀnd̥]) and in the preterits and participles of verb stems ending in /s/, /n/ and /ð/ (e.g. spiste "ate" [ˈsb̥i:sd̥ə], fødte "gave birth to" [ˈfø:d̥ə]).
The distinction between long and short vowels are neutralised before /v, j, ð, r/.
[edit] Current developments
This sixteen-vowel system is unstable, and the contemporary language is experiencing a merger of more of these phonemes. Thus, many speakers tend to confuse /e:/ ~ /ɛ:/, /e/ ~ /ɛ/, /ø:/ ~ /ö:/ and /ø/ ~ /ö/ (cf. Michael Ejstrup and Gert Foget Hansen 2004 [1]).
Before labials and velars, /a/ is [ɑ] in most varieties: in other positions, it is [a] in the conservative speakers and [æ] in the younger speakers.
[a], the regular allophone of /ɛ/ after /r/ is [ɑ] before labials and alveolars in the language of most younger speakers; before labials, it is often realised as a diphthong [ɑɪ̯]; the difference between strække "stretch" and strejke "strike", the only minimal pair, is practically non-existent.
The distinction between /ø/ and /ö/, which is upheld only before nasals, is blurred. One often hears [ø] for /ö/ (e.g. bønder [ˈb̥ønˀɐ] in stead of [ˈb̥œnˀɐ])[œ] for /ø/ (e.g. bøtte [ˈb̥œd̥ə] in stead of [ˈb̥ød̥ə]). However, /ø/ = <y> is normally pronounced only [ø] (one may hear pynte [ˈpʰœnd̥ə] in stead of [ˈpʰønd̥ə], though).
[edit] Accent
Unlike the neighboring Mainland Scandinavian languages Swedish and Norwegian, the prosody of Danish does not have phonemic pitch. Stress is phonemic and distinguishes words like such as [ˈb̥ilisd̥] "cheapest" and [b̥iˈlisd̥] "car driver". The main rules for the position of the stress are:
- Indigenous words are normally stressed on the first syllable.
- The prefixes be-, for-, ge- are unstressed, e.g. for’stå "understand", be’tale "pay" (NB there is also a stressed for- in nouns corresponding to the verbal prefix fore-).
- In many compound adjectives, especially those ending in -ig and -lig, the stress is replaced from the first to the second syllable, e.g. vidt’løftig "circumstantial", u’mulig "impossible".
- Words of French origin are stressed on the last syllable (except /ə/), e.g. renæ’ssance, mil’jø.
- Words of Greek and Latin origin are stressed according to the Latin accent rules, i.e. stress on the penultimate if it is long or else on the antepenultimate, e.g. Ari’stoteles, Ho’rats.
- The learned suffixes -aner, -ansk, -ance, -a/ens, -a/ent, -ere, -i, -ik, -ion, -itet, -ør are stressed, e.g. finge’rere, situa’tion, poli’tik, århusi’aner. The preceding syllable is stressed before the learned suffixes -isk, -iker, -or, e.g. po’lemisk, po’litiker, radi’ator. The suffix -or is stressed in the plural: radia’torer (colloquial: radi’atorer).
- Verbs lose their stress (and stød, if any) in certain positions:
-
- With an object without a definite or indefinite article: e.g. ’Jens ’spiser et ’barn [ˈjɛns ˈsb̥i:ˀsɐ ed̥ ˈb̥ɑ:ˀn] "Jens eats a child" ~ ’Jens spiser ’børn [ˈjɛns sb̥isɐ ˈb̥ɶɐˀn] "Jens eats children".
- In a fixed phrase with an adverb or an adverbial: ’Helle ’sov ’længe [ˈhɛlə ˈsʌʊˀ ˈlɛŋə] "Helle slept for a long time" ~ ’Helle sov ’længe [ˈhɛlə ˈsʌʊˀ ˈlɛŋə] "Helle slept late".
- Before the direction adverbs af, hen, hjem, ind, indad, ned, nedad, op, opad, over, ud, udad, under (but not the location adverbs henne. inde, nede, oppe, ovre, ude): f.eks. han ’går ’ude på ’gaden [hæn ˈɡɒ:ˀ ˈu:ð̪̩ pʰɔ ˈɡ̊æ:ð̪̩n] "he walks on the street" ~ han går ’ud på ’gaden [hæn ɡɒ ˈuð̪ˀ pʰɔ ˈɡ̊æ:ð̪̩n] "he walks into the street".
[edit] Stød
The original pitch tone has been replaced by an opposition between syllables with and without the stød. The stød is not a separate phoneme, but a suprasegmental feature that may accompany certain syllables; those with a long vowel or that end with a voiced consonant.
The stød is phonemic since many words are kept apart on the basis on the presence or absence of the stød alone, e.g. løber "runner" [ˈlø:b̥ɐ] ≠ løber "runs" [ˈlø:ˀb̥ɐ / ˈløʊ̯ˀɐ], ånden "the breath" [ˈʌnn̩] ≠ ånden "the spirit" [ˈʌnˀn̩].
It is impossible to predict the presence or absence of the stød; it has to be learned. However there are some main rules:
- Original monosyllabic words have stød. Words that ended in consonant + r, l, n in Old Danish have the stød even though an anaptyctic vowel was later developed. The postponed definite article, which has become an inseparable part of the word, does not influence the word.
- All umlauting plurals in -er (ODan. -r) have the stød, e.g. hænder [ˈhɛnˀɐ] "hands".
- Most presents from strong verbs (ODan. -r) have the stød, e.g. finder [ˈfenˀɐ] "finds". Many of the presents of verbs with a preterite in -te have the stød as well (but not the presents of verbs with a preterite in -ede).
- Monosyllabic words that originally ended in a short vowel + a single n, r, l, v, ð, g do not have the stød. However, when the definite article is added, the stød "returns", e.g. ven [ˈʋɛn] ~ vennen [ˈʋɛnˀn̩] "friend".
- Stød is frequently avoided in words with the combinations rp, rt, rk, rs, e.g. vers ˈʋæɐ̯s] "verse", kort ˈkʰɒ:d̥] "card, map"/"short".
- Most (non-derived) words in -el, -er have the stød. Most words in -en do not have the stød. Nomina agentis in -er do not have the stød.
- All words with the unstressed prefixes be-, for-, ge- have the stød.
- There is stød in most compounds that have a replacement of the stress from first to the second syllable.
- There is frequently the stød in the second part of compound verbs.
- Monosyllables regularly lose the stød when they are the first part of a compound: mål [ˈmɔ:ˀl] "target, goal" ~ målmand [ˈmɔ:lˌmænˀ] "goalkeeper". The vowel is sometimes shortened: tag [ˈtˢæ:ˀ] "roof" ~ tagterrasse [ˈtˢɑʊ̯tˢaˌʁɑsə] ”roof terrace”
- Words of Greek or Latin origin have the stød on a stressed antepenultimate syllable or a stressed last syllable. A stressed penultimate syllable has the stød if the word ends in -er.
[edit] Dania transliteration
The Danish handbooks (including the pronunciation dictionaries) normally use another transliteration standard known as Dania. It is more similar to the orthography and is to some extent phonological rather than phonetic. E.g. the vowels of stræde "alley" and gade "gade", which are pronounced identical in Modern Standard Danish, are transliterated æ: and ɑ: respectively since they are allophones of different phonemes.
| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Alveolar | Alveolo- palatal |
Palatal | Velar | Uvu- pharyngeal |
Glottal | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | p | b | t | d | k | ɡ | ||||||||||
| Nasals | m | n | ŋ | |||||||||||||
| Fricatives | f | s | ʂ | h | ||||||||||||
| Approximants | w | v | ð | j | ʀ | |||||||||||
| Lateral approximant |
l | |||||||||||||||
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
| Close (high) |
i i: | y y: | u u: | |||
| Close-mid | e e: | ø ø: | o o: | |||
| Mid | æ æ: | ö ö: | ə | å å: | ||
| Open-mid | ɑ ɑ: | ɔ̈ | ɔ ɹ |
åɹ | ||
| Open (low) |
ɑ̇ | a a: | ||||
NB Many letters have a different meaning in the two transliteration systems: Dania a = IPA ɑ, Dania ɑ̇ = IPA a, Dania ɑ = IPA æ, Dania æ = IPA ɛ, Dania ɔ = IPA ʌ, Dania å = IPA ɔ
[edit] Orthography
Explanation: "/ x _" = "after x"; "/ _ x" = "before x"; "#" = "word boundary"; "V" = "any vowel", "C" = "any consonant"
| Letter(s) | Sound (in IPA) |
|---|---|
| aa | = å (in indigenous names) / a (in foreign names) |
| ae, ä | = æ (in names) |
| au, aw | [ɑʊ̯]; [ɒ:] (in English words); [o(:)] (in French words) |
| ai, ay | [ɑɪ̯]; [ɛɪ̯] (in English words); [ɛ(:)] (in French words) |
| b, bb | [b̥] (in some words also [ʊ̯] / V _) |
| c | = k or s (in foreign words) |
| ch | [tɕ] (in English words); [ɕ] (in French words); [k] or [ɕ] (in German words); [k] (in Greek names) |
| cc | = ks (in foreign words) |
| d, dd | [d̥] [ð̪] (/ V _ #, /ə/, -ig, -isk) or [-] (/ V _ t, s; l, n, r _ e, #) |
| e | short: [ɛ] or [e]1; [a] (/ _ r); [a > ɑ] (/ r _ p, b, f, m, t, d, s, n); [a > ɑɪ̯]) (/ r _ k, g, nk, ng) long: [e:]; [ɛ: > æ:(ɪ̯)] (/ r _) unstressed: [ə]; [ɐ] (/ r _; _ r) |
| ea, ee | = i or e (in English words) |
| eg, ei, ej | [ɑ:ɪ̯] |
| f, ff | [f] in the preposition af = [-] or [ʊ̯] (as the first part of compounds) |
| g, gg | [ɡ̊]; [ɕ] (in French words); [ɡ̊] (when = gg) or [ɪ̯ > -] (/ i, e, æ, y, ø, u, (long) a _) or [ʊ̯] (/ o, å, (short) a _); [d̥j] (in English words); [ɕ] (in French words) |
| h | [h] or [-] (/ _ j, v); [-] (/ V _); cf. also ch, ph, th |
| i | short: [i] or [e] 2; [i] or [ɛ > æ] (/ r _; _ r); [ɜ:] (/ _ r in English words); [j] (/ l, n _ e); /j/ > [-] (/ t, s _ e, on) open syllable [i:]; [ɑɪ̯] (in English words) |
| ie | = i (in names) |
| j | [j] or [ɪ̯]; [ɕ] (/ s, t _); [d̥j] (in English words); [ɕ] (in French words) |
| k, kk | [kʰ]; [ɡ̊] (/ s _; / V _ #, C, /ə/, -ig, -isk) |
| l, ll | [l] |
| ld | [l] (/ _ #, /ə/) or [ld̥] (elsewhere) |
| m, mm | [m] |
| n, nn | [n]; [ŋ] (/ _ k, g, x); [ɱ] (/ _ f); [ŋ] (/ V _ in French words) |
| nd | [n] (/ _ #, /ə/) or [nd̥] (elsewhere) |
| ng | [ŋ] |
| o | short: [ʌ]; [ɔ] (/ _ g, sometimes also / _ v, s, n, m) long: [o:] |
| oe, ö | = ø (in names) |
| oo | = u (in English words); = o (in German words); |
| ou, ow | [ʌʊ̯]; [ɑʊ̯] or [ɔʊ̯] (in English words); [u(:)] (in French words) |
| p, pp | [pʰ]; [b̥] (/ s _; / V _ #, C, /ə/, -ig, -isk) |
| ph | = f (in names) |
| q | = k (in names and foreign words) |
| r, rr | [ʁ]; [ɐ̯] (/ V _); [ɹʷ] (in English words) |
| rd | [ɐ̯] (/ _ #, /ə/) or [ɐ̯d̥] (elsewhere) |
| s, ss | [s]; /s/ > [ɕ] (/ _ ie, ion) |
| sj, sch, sh | [ɕ] |
| t, tt | [tˢ]; [d̥] (/ s _; / V _ #, C, /ə/, -ig, -isk); /s/ > [ɕ] (/ _ ie, ion) |
| th | [tˢ]; [d̥] (/ s _; / V _ /ə/, -ig, -isk); [θ] (in English words) |
| u | short: [u] or [ɔ] 2; [u] or [o] (/ _ r); [u > o] or [ɔ] (/ r _); [ʋ̥] (/ q _) long: [u:]; [u: > o:] (/ r _); [ju:] or [ʌ] (in English words); [y(:)] (in French words) |
| ue, ü | = y (in names) |
| v | [ʋ]; [ʋ̥] (/ t, k, s _); [ʋ, ʊ̯] (/ V _); [f] (in German and Dutch words) |
| w | = v (in names and foreign words) |
| x | [g̊s]; [s] (/ #, n _ ) (in foreign words) |
| y | short: [y] or [ø]2; [y] or [œ] (/ r _; _ r) short: [y:]; [ɑɪ̯] or [i] (in English words) |
| z, zz | = s (in names and foreign words) |
| æ | short: [ɛ], before r [ɛ > æ], after r = [a > ɑ] (between r and k, g, nk, ng = [a > ɑɪ̯] long: [ɛ:]; [ɛ: > æ:(ɪ̯)] (/ r _; _ r) |
| ø | short: [ø]; [œ] (/ _ n); [ø] or [œ > ɶ] (/ _ r); [œ] (/ r _); [ɶ] (/ r _ n) long: [ø:]; [ø:] or [œ:] (/ r _; _ r) |
| øg, øj | [ʌɪ̯] |
| å | short: [ʌ]; [ɒ:] (/ _ r) long: [ɔ:]; [ɒ:] (/ _ r) |
Notes: 1 Short e is normally = /ɛ/; in a few cases, however, it is = /e/ (f.eks. 2 Short i, y, u are either = /i, y, u/ or /e, ø, ɔ/; before /m, n, ŋ/, the open variants are almost universal.
[edit] Text sample
Johannes V. Jensen, Kongens Fald, 1900-01:
- Rakkeren vred Anders Graas Hest om paa Ryggen og begyndte at aabne den. Blodet laa i en stor brun Pøl, der smeltede sig ned i Sneen, den blegrøde Fraade frøs snart til Is. For hvert Snit af Kniven vældede en Farve ud af den dampende Hestekrop, Kødet spillede i dejlige blaa og røde Farver. Og se Trævlerne blev ved at røre sig, fare sammen og skælve mod Frostluften, de overskaarne Muskler krympede sig som Orme i den svirpende Ild. Det lange Luftrør kom for en Dag, Kindtænderne laa synlige som fire Linjer mystiske Bogstaver. Der kom en fin lyserød Hinde frem, den var mønstret med mangfoldige blaa Aarer som et flodrigt Land set højt oppe fra. Da Brystet blev aabnet, var der ligesom en Hule; store hvidblaa Hinder hang ned, brunt og sort Blod kom ud af Smaahuller i de aarede Vægge, det gule Fedt stod fra Loft til Gulv i langelige og drivende Klaser. Leveren var mere brun end alt andet brunt i Verden, Milten kom tilsyne blaa og skimlet som Natten og Mælkevejen Og der var mange flere skære Farver, blaa og grønne Indvolde, teglstenrøde og okkergule Dele. Alle Østerlands frodige, raa Farver; gult som Ægyptens Sand, turkisblaat som Himlen over Evfrat og Tigris; alle Orientens og Indiens ublu Farver blomstrede ud midt i Sneen under Rakkerens skidne kniv.
Modern Danish pronunciation:1
- [ˈʁɑɡ̊ɐɐn ˈʋʁæð̪ˀ ɑnɐs ˈɡ̊ʁɔ:ˀs ˈhɛsd̥ ˈʌm pʰɔ ˈʁœɡ̊ŋ̩ ʌ b̥ˈɡ̊ønˀd̥ʌ ʌ ˈɔ:b̥nə d̥n̩. ˈb̥loð̪ˀð̪̩ ˈlɔ:ˀ i n̩ ˈsd̥oɐ̯ˀ ˈb̥ro:ˀn ˈpʰø:ˀl d̥ɑ ˈsm̥ɛld̥əð̪̩ sɑ ˈneð̪ˀ i ˈsne:ˀn̩, d̥ɛm ˈb̥lɑɪ̯ˌʁœ:ð̪̩ ˈfʁɔ:ð̪̩ fʁœs ˈsnɑ:ˀd̥ tˢe ˈi:ˀs. fʌ ʋɛɐ̯d̥ ˈsnid̥ æ ˈkʰniʊ̯ˀn̩ ˈʋɛləð̪̩ n̩ ˈfɑ:ʊ ˈuð̪ˀ æ d̥n̩ ˈd̥ɑmb̥n̩nə 'hɛsd̥əˌkʰʁʌb̥, ˈkʰøð̪ˀð̪̩ ˈsb̥eləð̪̩ i ˈd̥ɑɪ̯lii ˈb̥lɔ:ˀ ʌ ˈʁœ:ð̪̩ ˈfɑ:ʊ̯ʌ. ʌ ˈse:ˀ ˈtˢʁɑʊ̯lʌnə b̥le ˈʋeð̪ ʌ ˈʁœ:ɐ sɑ, fɑ:ɑ ˈsɑmˀm̩ ʌ ˈsɡ̊ɛlʋə moð̪ ˈfʁʌsd̥ˌlɔfd̥n̩, d̥i ˈʌʊ̯ɐˌsɡ̊ɒ:ˀnə ˈmusɡ̊lɐ ˈkʰʁœmb̥əð̪̩ sɑ sʌm ˈoɐ̯mə i d̥n̩ ˈsʋ̥iɐ̯b̥n̩nə ˈilˀ. d̥e ˈlɑŋŋ̩ ˈlɔfd̥ˌʁœɐ̯ˀ kʰʌm fʌ n̩ ˈd̥æ:ˀ, ˈkʰenˌtˢɛnˀɐnə lɔ ˈsy:nlii sʌm ˈfi:ɐ ˈlinjɐ ˈmysd̥isg̊ə ˈb̥ɔʊ̯ˌsd̥æʊ̯ˀɐ. d̥ɑ ˈkʰʌmˀ ɱ̩ ˈfi:ˀn ˈlysəˌʁœð̪ˀ ˈhenn̩ ˈfʁɑmˀ, d̥ɛɱ ʋɑ ˈmønsd̥ʁɐð̪ mɛ mɑŋˈfʌlˀd̥ii ˈb̥lɔ:ˀ ˈɒ:ɒ sʌm ed̥ ˈfloð̪ˌʁiɡ̊d̥ ˈlænˀ ˈse:ˀd̥ ˈhʌɪ̯ˀd̥ ˈʌb̥ə ˈfʁɑ:ˀ. d̥æ ˈb̥ʁœsd̥əð̪ b̥le ˈɔ:b̥nəð̪, ˈʋɑ d̥ɑ ˈlisɐm m̩ ˈhu:lə. ˈsd̥o:ɐ ˈʋið̪ˌb̥lɔ:ˀ ˈhenɐ hɑŋ ˈneð̪ˀ, ˈb̥ʁo:ˀnd̥ ʌ ˈsoɐ̯d̥ ˈb̥loð̪ˀ kʰʌm ˈuð̪ˀ æ ˈsmʌˌhɔlɐ i d̥i ˈɒ:ɒð̪̩ ˈʋɛ:g̊ə, d̥e ˈɡ̊u:lə ˈfed̥ ˈsd̥oð̪ˀ fʁɑ ˈlʌfd̥ tˢe ˈɡ̊ɔl i ˈlɑŋŋ̩lii ʌ ˈd̥ʁi:ʊnə ˈkʰlæ:sɐ. ˈleʊ̯ˀɐɐn ʋɑ ˈme:ɐ ˈb̥ʁo:ˀn ɛn ˈælˀd̥ ˈænð̪̩ ˈb̥ʁo:ˀnd̥ i ˈʋaɐ̯d̥n̩, ˈmilˀd̥n̩ kʰʌm tˢe ˈsy:nə ˈb̥lɔ:ˀ ʌ ˈsɡ̊emləð̪ sʌm ˈnæd̥n̩ ʌ ˈmɛlɡ̊əˌʋɑɪ̯ˀn̩. ʌ d̥ɑ ʋɑ ˈmɑŋŋ̩ ˈfle:ɐ ˈsɡ̊ɛ:ɐ ˈfɑ:ʊ̯ɐ, ˈb̥lɔ:ˀ ʌ ˈɡ̊ʁœnn̩ ˈeɱˌʋʌlə, ˈtˢɑɪ̯lsd̥ensˌʁœ:ð̪̩ ʌ ˈʌɡ̊ɑˌɡ̊u:lə ˈd̥e:lə. ˈæll̩ ˈøsd̥ɐˌlænˀs ˈfʁo:ð̪ii, ˈʁɔ:ˀ ˈfɑ:ʊ̯ɐ. ˈɡ̊u:ˀld̥ sʌm eˈɡ̊yb̥d̥n̩s ˈsænˀ, tˢyɐ̯ˈkʰi:ˀsˌb̥lʌd̥ sʌm ˈhemln̩ ʌʊ̯ɐ ˈœʊ̯fʁɑd̥ ʌ ˈtˢi:ɡ̊ʁis. ˈælə ʌɪˈjɛnˀd̥n̩s ʌ ˈenˀd̥jəns ˈuˌb̥lu:ˀ ˈfɑ:ʊ̯ɐ ˈb̥lʌmsd̥ʁɐð̪̩ ˈuð̪ˀ med̥ i ˈsne:ˀn̩ ɔnɑ ˈʁɑɡ̊ɐɐns ˈsɡ̊ið̪nə ˈkʰniʊ̯ˀ]
- 1 The phonetic transcription follows the pronunciation of Modern Standard Copenhagen Danish as it is spoken by the younger generation (<40y). The author of the text sample, Johannes V. Jensen, spoke a more archaic dialect with a Jutlandic substratum.
English translation:
- "The butcher turned the horse of Anders Grey on its back and started to open it. The blood lay in a big brown puddle that melted down in the snow, the pink foam soon froze to ice. At every cut of the knife, a colour gushed from the steaming body of the horse, the flesh sparkled in lovely blue and red colours. And look, the shreds kept moving, started and quaked in the frosty air, the cut muscles shrank like worms in the flicking fire. The long windpipe appeared, the molars were visible like four lines of mysterious letters. A fine pink membrane showed, it was figured with various blue veins like a rivery country seen from high above. When the breast was opened, it was like a cave; big white-blue membranes hang down, brown and black blood came out of small holes in the veined walls, the yellow fat extended from the ceiling to the floor in longish and wringing bunches. the liver was more brown than any brown thing in the world. The spleen came forth blue and mouldy like the night and the Milky Way. And there were many more bright colours, blue and green entrails, tile-red and ochre-yellow parts. All the luxuriant, raw colours of the East, yellow like the sand and Egypt, turquoise-blue like the heaven over Euphrat and Tigris; all the impudent colours of the Orient and India blossomed right out in the snow under the filthy knife of the butcher."
[edit] References
- Basbøll, Hans. (1985). Stød in modern Danish. Folia Linguistica, 19, 1-50.
- Basbøll, Hans (2005) The Phonology of Danish ISBN 0-19-824268-9
- Garlén, Claes (1988) Svenskans fonologi ISBN 91-44-28151-X.
- Grønnum, Nina. (1992). The groundworks of Danish intonation. Copenhagen: Museum Tuscalanum Press.
- Grønnum, Nina. (1996). Danish vowels: Scratching the recent surface in a phonological experiment. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia, 28, 5-63.
- Grønnum, Nina. (1998a). Fonetik og fonologi, Almen og Dansk. København: Akademisk Forlag.
- Grønnum, Nina. (1998b). Illustrations of the IPA: Danish. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 28 (1 & 2), 99-105.
- Heger, Steffen (2003) Sprog & lyd: Elementær dansk fonetik ISBN 87-500-3089-2
