Kjell

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For the name, see Kjell (name).
Kjell

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Kjell (kj) is a letter recently proposed[1] for the Norwegian alphabet. It is a humorous proposal aimed at promoting what is considered the proper pronunciation of the Norwegian sound kj (or tj), which in most dialects is [ç] (like the ch in German ich), but has merged with [ʃ] (like English sh) for many speakers. The reason for "kjell" being a funny name for a Norwegian letter is that Kjell is a fairly common male name[2] in several Scandinavian languages (derived from Old Norse Ketill).

Many Norwegian dialects are experiencing the disappearance of the kj sound, as it is replaced with the more common sound of skj (or sj or sk). Some think that introducing a special letter for the kj sound would help preserve the sound in the spoken language. If the proposal were to gain popularity, kjell would be placed between L and M in the alphabet.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The letter kjell was introduced in the 3 March 2005 episode of the television programme Typisk norsk ("Typical Norwegian") on Norway's most popular TV channel, NRK1.
  2. ^ As of late 2005, according to Statistics Norway, there were 31,884 Norwegians named Kjell, making up nearly 1.4% of the male population. The name ranks as no. 9 on the top ten list of the most common boy's names in Norway during the 20th century.
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