{"id":2222,"date":"2016-06-20T15:21:10","date_gmt":"2016-06-20T15:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=2222"},"modified":"2016-06-20T15:35:38","modified_gmt":"2016-06-20T15:35:38","slug":"y-u-always-mix-up-norwegian-vowels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/y-u-always-mix-up-norwegian-vowels\/","title":{"rendered":"Y U always mix up Norwegian vowels"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"uy\"<\/a>Unless you\u2019re a Norwegian (or a Swede), you\u2019ll probably find the language a bit difficult to pronouce. I think Norwegian (and Swedish<\/a>) dialects are a sonical challenge mainly because<\/p>\n

\u2013 they\u2019ve got 2 different word melodies<\/a> \u2013 think Chinese<\/p>\n

\u2013 the vowels are not what you\u2019d expect<\/p>\n

\u2013 many dialects have tricky consonant combos\u00a0(often involving\u00a0the letter R)<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at the tricksters U<\/strong> and Y<\/strong> (as in pute og dyne<\/b><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2016\/06\/putedyne.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

<\/b>, pillow and duvet).<\/p>\n

The U of many<\/i> languages has a slightly \u201ddarker\u201d sound than the middle vowel of\u00a0let\u2019s DO it!<\/strong> <\/i>or cool! <\/i>(Check out Spanish<\/a>, Swahili, Esperanto<\/a>\u2026) German even has the letter \u00dc (as in M\u00fcnchen<\/i> = Munich), which is made by letting out the \u201dcool <\/i>U\u201d with rounded lips (like when you\u2019re going to kiss somebody). Why am I talking about German<\/a>? Well, when the Vikings spoke, their U was just like the German one, and their Y was like the German \u00dc\u2026<\/p>\n

The catch is\u2026 In 2016 Norwegian, the Y has become much \u201dbrighter\u201d. It\u2019s so upfront that\u2019s it\u2019s almost leaving your mouth! You really have to pout your lips to make it: skygge, nydelig<\/b> (shadow, gorgeous).<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2016\/06\/skyggenydelig.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

When the Y \u201dbrightened\u201d (in the Middle Ages or so), the U decided to follow it on the tongue\u2019s jorney towards the teeth\u2026 If you listen, there\u2019s no wonder why many foreigners keep confusing the two sounds: furu, husker du? <\/b>(fir tree, do you remember?)<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2016\/06\/furuhuskerdu.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

Okay, there\u2019s one thing more: The Norwegian O got brighter, too, taking that \u201ddark\u201d place where the U used to be \u2013 phew<\/i>: sol<\/b> (sun). Compare that to the much \u201ddarker\u201d O of Spanish sol<\/i> or English robot<\/i>. To a Norwegian, those sound like \u2026 \u00c5<\/strong>! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2016\/06\/sol.m4a<\/a><\/audio>\n

Recap:<\/strong><\/em> In Norwegian, the sounds U\/Y (and O) are \u201dbrighter\u201d \u2013 pronounced with the tip of the tongue more in front of the mouth \u2013 than in many other languages.<\/p>\n

Now try to pronounce the following line of poetry (I think it was written by Jan-Erik Vold):
\nHun har myk hud, hun<\/b>. (She\u2019s got soft skin, she does.)<\/p>\n

Note: I\u2019ve saved the stuff about vowel LENGTH for another time. \ud83d\ude42<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Unless you\u2019re a Norwegian (or a Swede), you\u2019ll probably find the language a bit difficult to pronouce. I think Norwegian (and Swedish) dialects are a sonical challenge mainly because \u2013 they\u2019ve got 2 different word melodies \u2013 think Chinese \u2013 the vowels are not what you\u2019d expect \u2013 many dialects have tricky consonant combos\u00a0(often involving\u00a0the…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":2223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14,935,386285,151676,143,3446,238020,3508,3056,238021],"class_list":["post-2222","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-a","tag-german","tag-jan-erik-vold","tag-o","tag-spanish","tag-swedish","tag-u","tag-vikings","tag-vowels","tag-y"],"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