{"id":1509,"date":"2017-02-28T19:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-02-28T19:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=1509"},"modified":"2017-02-28T19:00:32","modified_gmt":"2017-02-28T19:00:32","slug":"danish-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2017\/02\/28\/danish-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"Danish Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Word stress is all about on which syllables to focus\u2026 But don\u2019t get stressed about it! \ud83d\ude42 (Photo courtesy of mitchell haindfield at Flickr<\/a>, CC License.)<\/p><\/div>\n

If you want to talk with the natives, you have to hit an udtale<\/b> [OOTHtahleh] (pronunciation) that is not too far off. \ud83d\ude42 Of course, having a bit of accent is okay, as long as people don\u2019t need to guess whether you <\/i>meant hat<\/i> or head<\/i>. Stress is one of those little details that do matter in this respect. (While alle<\/b> [AL-eh] means \u201deverybody\u201d, all\u00e9<\/b> [aLEH] means \u201davenue\u201d\u2026)<\/p>\n

Many Danish words are stressed on the first<\/i> syllable:<\/p>\n

SOfa, FLASke, MENNeske, Eventyr, HEMMelig<\/b> (sofa, bottle, human being, fairytale, secret)<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s hard to tell if one-syllable words are stressed on the first or last syllable:<\/p>\n

GR\u00c6S, SNE, S\u00d8<\/b> (grass, snow, lake) \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Small grammatical words that don\u2019t really refer to a lot in the outside world, often get no stress at all<\/i>: Hans og<\/i> Grethe ka<\/i>\u2019 li\u2019 at<\/i> g\u00e5<\/i> tur i<\/i> parken. <\/b>(Hans and Grethe like to take a stroll in the park.)<\/p>\n

Then there is a number of prefixes that tend to lose their stress, including be-, ge-<\/b> and for-<\/b>. (Prefixes are \u201dsemi-words\u201d that are put in front of other words to change their meaning, like \u201dpre-\u201d in prepaid<\/i>.) As a result, the words they front end up getting stressed on the second<\/i> syllable:<\/p>\n

at beS\u00d8Ge<\/b> (to visit), beTALing<\/b> (payment), geV\u00c6R<\/b> (gun), geVINST<\/b> (profit), at forST\u00c5 <\/b>(to understand), for\u00c6LDre<\/b> (parents), forNUFTig<\/b> (reasonable)<\/p>\n

(Of course there are undtagelser,<\/b> exceptions, like FOR\u00e5r<\/b>, springtime.)<\/p>\n

Other prefixes keep their stress, while the words they\u2019re attached to also retain a bit<\/i> of theirs:<\/p>\n

MIStan<\/i>ke <\/b>(suspicion), Ulykk<\/i>e<\/b> (accident), UDm\u00e6r<\/i>ket<\/b> (outstanding)<\/p>\n

Yes, you maybe guessed it \u2013 when words are jammed together to create new words (compounding), the main stress usually lands on the first syllable, while the other original stresses remain as \u201dsecondary stresses<\/i>\u201d (pronounced a bit more forcefully than entirely unstressed parts of the word):<\/p>\n

FLYTTedag<\/i>, LASTbil<\/i>, MENNeskerett<\/i>igheder <\/b>(\u201dmoving-in day\u201d, truck, human rights)<\/p>\n

Finally, many everyday words are stressed on the (second-)last syllable. That\u2019s because they were originally taken from other languages. You just have to learn them by heart. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

milJ\u00d8, chaufF\u00d8R <\/b>[shaw-FUR], banAN, benZIN, staTION <\/b>[sta-SHAWN], turIST, minerAL, geograFI, chokoLAde, banDAge<\/b> [ban-DASH-eh], faMIlie <\/b>(evironment, driver, banana, petrol\/gasoline, station, tourist, mineral, geography, chocolate, bandage, family)<\/p>\n

Sometimes this special stress is marked by the letter \u00e9: id\u00e9, caf\u00e9<\/b> (idea, caf\u00e9)<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Part of the reason why Danish pronunciation can be so hard, is that Danes put so little effort into unstressed syllables that they often become reduced or even disappear. For example koppen<\/b> (the cup) is often pronounced \u201dkobm<\/b>\u201d, while uge<\/b> (week) is reduced to \u201du\u2019<\/b>\u201d [oo]. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

If you want to talk with the natives, you have to hit an udtale [OOTHtahleh] (pronunciation) that is not too far off. \ud83d\ude42 Of course, having a bit of accent is okay, as long as people don\u2019t need to guess whether you meant hat or head. Stress is one of those little details that do…<\/p>\n

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