Pronunciation course

Consonant J

Letter J is pronounced as /j/ in English “yes”. Practice with these examples: Jeg (I) Jul (Christmas) Jobbe (to work) Juks (cheating) Januar (January) Jaguar (jaguar) J is pronounced as /ʃ/ in the following words: Journal (journal) Journalist (journalist) Pyjamas (pyjamas)

Consonant C

Letter C appears only in foreign words and it is very rare in the Norwegian language. It is pronounced either as /s/ or /k/, depending on how the word is pronounced in the language of origin. For example: Cirka (approximately) Camping (camping) Scene (stage) Canada (Canada) PC (computer) CV (CV)

Sounds /ç/ and /ʃ/

/ç/ Sound /ç/ lies somewhere between /s/ and /ʃ/, the closest sound in English may be in the word “huge”. /ç/ is a voiceless sound. It means that we use correct tongue position and airflow to make it. To pronounce /ç/, press the tip of the tongue towards lower teeth and raise the front of …

Sounds /ç/ and /ʃ/ Read More »

Length of sounds

In this lesson we are going to talk about long and short sounds in the Norwegian language. As we have mentioned in this course, vowels (and also consonants) can be short and long. Take a look at this example: måte and måtte. In the first word “måte” sound /ɔ:/ is a long one. In the …

Length of sounds Read More »

Vowel Ø

Letter Ø is always pronounced as short or long /ø/. To pronounce this sound, you have to round your lips a bit and stick them out. This is a front vowel, meaning that you produce the sound in the front of your mouth. The center of the tongue is raised, while the tip is behind …

Vowel Ø Read More »

Vowel Y

Letter Y is always pronounced as long or short /y/. To make this sound you have to round your lips and stick them out (just as you do it to pronounce /u/). As you round your lips, try to make sound /i/. Sound /y/ is similar to /i/, but the most important thing here is …

Vowel Y Read More »

Vowel U

To pronounce the sound /u/, you need to round your lips and stick them out. You need to lift the center of the tongue and push it a bit forward. The English sound system doesn’t have an exact equivalent of this sound, but the closest sound can be found in the word “new”. /o/ and …

Vowel U Read More »

Tones

In this lesson we are going to talk about the tones in Norwegian. English, Russian, Arabic and many other languages are non-tonal languages. Chinese language has 4 different tones and is therefore a tonal language. Norwegian too, has tonal characteristics. In non-tonal languages we use different pitch of voice to express emotions and attitudes, while …

Tones Read More »

O pronounced as /ɔ/

Letter O can be pronounced both as /o/ and /ɔ/. However, the rules for when you pronounce O as /ɔ/ or /o/ are very vague and there are a lot of exceptions. We will mention some common examples that will give you an idea of when to pronounce O as /ɔ/, but the best way …

O pronounced as /ɔ/ Read More »

Vowel O

Letter O in Norwegian is not an equivalent to the English “o”. This letter can be pronounced as /o/ and /ɔ/. The sound /o/ doesn’t have identical sounds in English. To pronounce the sound, round your lips closely and stick them out, as you try to say /o/. Position of the lips is very important …

Vowel O Read More »