{"id":677,"date":"2012-09-14T15:42:02","date_gmt":"2012-09-14T15:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=677"},"modified":"2012-09-14T15:42:02","modified_gmt":"2012-09-14T15:42:02","slug":"danish-diphthongs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2012\/09\/14\/danish-diphthongs\/","title":{"rendered":"Danish Diphthongs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2012<\/a>

A diphthong = two vowels that form one single glide\u2026<\/p><\/div>Having looked at the Danish vowels<\/a>, the Danish diphthongs are next in line. A diphthong is a vowel glide, consisting of a main vowel that unnoticeably \u201dslides\u201d into a different, quieter vowel (a \u2019semivowel\u2019) to form a single syllable \u2013 as in English joy<\/strong>, \u201djo\u1d49\u1d49\u201d.<\/p>\n

Your \u201dDanish for Nerds\u201d handbook will tell you there are tons of diphthongs in Danish, and that you should probably just quit learning the language right now. Fortunately, it\u2019s all a matter of analysis. Danish doesn\u2019t have to be hard at all. Let\u2019s look at it in an easy way.<\/p>\n

Remember what I told you about the letter G when it followed E, I, Y, \u00c6, \u00d8 or light A (90 % of Danish A\u2019s)? It gets an English Y<\/em> quality, so that the word flag<\/strong>\u00a0(flag) somehow rhymes with English day<\/em>. Vowel qualities aside, the major difference is: The a-y<\/em> transition of the English word is smooth and quick. In the Danish word, the \u2019ag\u2019 sounds more like an A sound followed by<\/em> an independent<\/span>\u00a0Y<\/em> sound (Y<\/em> as in yes<\/em>): [fla-y]. It isn\u2019t \u201dgliding\u201d in the English way. Now, why should we mess up our list with a wannabe diphthong like that?<\/p>\n

In all of the following words, then, you\u2019ve really just got an ordinary Danish vowel, followed by an English Y<\/em> sound (J<\/strong> in Danish spelling):
\neg<\/strong> (\u201de-j\u201d, oak), lig<\/strong> (\u201dli-j\u201d, corpse), syg<\/strong> (\u201dsy-j\u201d, ill, sick), l\u00e6ge<\/strong> (\u201dl\u00e6-je\u201d, doctor), bes\u00f8g<\/strong> (\u201dbes\u00f8-j\u201d, visit), kage<\/strong> (\u201dka-je\u201d, cake). The Y<\/em>\u00a0part even tends to disappear entirely in everyday talk: li\u2019<\/strong>, sy\u2019<\/strong>, bes\u00f8\u2019<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

Got it? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Some words spelt with a final -G, though, should indeed be added to our list of diphthongs-to-learn. They are just as smooth as their English pals, the Y<\/em>\u00a0part is never ever dropped<\/span>,\u00a0and you can\u2019t make out their exact sound from the spelling. (Unless someone told you, of course!) For example, leg<\/strong> (play) rhymes with haj<\/strong> (shark), which both rhyme with English hi<\/em>!<\/p>\n

In the next few days, we\u2019ll be looking at the only Danish diphthongs you\u2019ll ever need to learn\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Having looked at the Danish vowels, the Danish diphthongs are next in line. A diphthong is a vowel glide, consisting of a main vowel that unnoticeably \u201dslides\u201d into a different, quieter vowel (a \u2019semivowel\u2019) to form a single syllable \u2013 as in English joy, \u201djo\u1d49\u1d49\u201d. Your \u201dDanish for Nerds\u201d handbook will tell you there are…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":2122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[251369,7278],"class_list":["post-677","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-diphthong","tag-vowel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t