Consonant sounds
The symbols inside the brackets [ ] show
the sounds with use of the
International Phonological Alphabet (IPA).
You can read more about the IPA
[b]
be (pray)
by (city)
[d]
du (you)
da (then)
[f]
få (few)
fin (fine)
[g]
ga (gave)
gå (walk)
[h]
ha (have)
hun (she)
[j]
ja (yes)
jul (Christmas)
[k]
kan (can)
kafé (cafe)
[l]
le (laugh)
lege (doctor)
[m]
mye (much)
mor (mother)
[n]
nå (now)
ny (new)
[p]
på (on)
pen (pretty)
[t]
ta (take)
to (two)
[r]
rar (odd)
tror (believe)
uvular /r/
(yellow areas)
rolling /r/
(white areas)
[s]
si (say)
se (see)
[v]
vin (wine)
venn (friend)
As for the remaining letters of the the alphabet, i.e., /c/, /q/, /w/, /x/ and /z/, they are not part of the Norwegian phonetic inventory. Nevertheless, these letters appear in loanwords and names. Here is now to pronounce them:
V
/c/
Like /s/ when placed before /e/ or /i/
e.g. celle [sele]
cirka [sirkɑ]
Like /k/ before any other vowel
e.g. Canada [kɑnɑdɑ]
Cuba [kʉ:bɑ]
/q/
Just like /k/
e.g. Qatar [kɑtɑ:r]
/x/
Like /ks/
e.g. Mexico [meksiku]
/w/
Just like /v/
e.g. kiwi [ki:vi]
/z/
Just like /s/
e.g. Zambia [sɑmbiɑ]
While some letters in the alphabet do not represent any Norwegian sounds, the reverse is also true: there are sounds in Norwegian that are not assigned to any specific letter but can still be described using the international phonetic alphabet (IPA).
Retroflex sounds
In practically every part of Norway where you have the 'rolling/r/', you also find retroflex sounds - four of them, in total. To produce these sounds, bend your tongue so that the tip of your tongue points backwards in your mouth, and then you flap your tongue forward while making the sound.
just make a normal /d/,
but start with your tongue back in your mouth!
[ɖ]
Written /r/ + /d/.
e.g. hvordan [vuɖɑn] (how)
ferdig [fæɖi] (finished)
[ɭ]
Written /r/ + /l/
e.g. farlig [fɑ:ɭi] (dangerous)
dårlig [do:ɭi] (bad)
[ɳ]
Written /r/ + /n/
e.g. barna [bɑ:ɳɑ] (the children)
fjerne [fjæ:ɳe] (remove)
[ʈ]
Written /r/ + /t/
e.g. fjorten [fjuʈen] (fourteen)
hjerte [jæʈe] (heart)
almost like a normal /n/,
except...
a normal /l/,
but start with your tongue back!
got it?
VI
[ŋ]
This sound is written as /ng/, or /n/ in combination with /k/.
Before [ŋ], /u/ is pronounced like /o/.
[ŋ]
sang
mange
tung
bank
flink
tenke
[saŋ]
[maŋe]
[tuŋ]
[bɑŋk]
[fliŋk]
[teŋke]
(song)
(many)
(heavy)
(bank)
(skilled)
(think)
keep your tongue flat back in your mouth, and try to say /n/ without raising your tongue!
[ç]
This sound can be transliterated in three different ways.
/k/ + /i/
Kina
kiosk
kiste
[çi:nɑ]
[çosk]
[çiste]
(China)
(kiosk)
(coffin)
/kj/
kjole
kjedelig
kjøtt
[çu:le]
[çe:deli]
[çøt]
(dress)
(boring)
(meat)
/k/ + /y/
kyst
kysse
kylling
[çyst]
[çyse]
[çyliŋ]
(coast)
(kiss)
(chicken)
place the middle of your tongue (the blade) far up, almost touching the top of your mouth (the palate), then try to blow on top of your tongue to produce this sound!
If you struggle with producing this sound, it might serve as consolation that this sound is on retreat in Norway. Among the younger generations in many areas of Norway, [ç] has merged with [∫ ].
VII
[∫ ]
For this sound, we have five alternatives in the written language.
/sk/ + /i/
ski
skinne
skifte
[∫i]
[∫ine]
[∫ifte]
(ski)
(shine)
(shift)
/sj/
sjef
sjokolade
sjelden
[∫e:f]
[∫ukulɑ:de]
[∫elden]
(boss)
(chocolate)
(seldom)
/skj/
skjorte
skjørt
skjønne
[∫uʈe]
[∫øʈ]
[∫øne]
(shirt)
(skirt)
(understand)
/sk/ + /y/
sky
skyte
skygge
[∫y]
[∫y:te]
[∫yge]
(cloud)
(shoot)
(shadow)
this sound is very much like the English sound in words like 'she' and 'shine'.
/rs/
norsk
vers
bursdag
[no∫k]
[væ∫]
[bʉ∫dɑg]
(Norwegian)
(verse)
(birthday)
/s/ before /l/ is often pronounced like [∫ ], but this is not mandatory. You will hear Oslo pronounced both [u∫ lu] and [uslu].
Silent letters
/h/ is silent before
/j/ and /v/.
e.g. hjelp [jelp] (help)
hvem [vem] (who)
/gi/ and /gy/ are typically pronounced /ji/ and /jy/.
e.g. gift [jift] (married)
gyldig [jyldi] (valid)
Vowels
/g/ is silent when it follows
/i/ at the end of a word.
e.g. billig [bili] (cheap)
vanlig [vɑnli] (normal)
/d/ is generally silent at the
end of a word (not always).
e.g. glad [glɑ] (happy)
rød [rø] (red)
VIII
/g/ is silent before /j/.
e.g. gjøre [jø:re] (do)
gjenta [jentɑ] (repeat)
/nd/ and /ld/ are generally pronounced /nn/ and /ll/.
e.g. land [lɑn] (country)
holde [hole] (hold)
The alphabet
