How to read and say Norwegian

Norwegian spelling is pretty simple and regular (compared to, say, English), but like most real languages, it is unfortunately not completely regular.

Vowels

Each vowel can be pronounced either as "long" or "short". A "short" vowel will almost always be followed by a double consonant (i.e. two similar consonants, such as ll or tt). A long vowel is not.

For example, in Norwegian "it" will be pronounced as in eet, whereas "itt" will be pronounced as English it.

(There are some exceptions to this rule: if the consonant is followed by another consonant, it does not always need to be doubled to make the vowel short.)

The Norwegian vowels are pronounced in almost the same way as in German. The Norwegian alphabet has three letters more than the English alphabet, vowels æ (Æ), ø (Ø), and å (Å). Here's the full list:

a

like 'a' in "father"

e

like 'e' in "where" (but like æ if it is followed by an 'r') (some exceptions, see below)

i (short)

like 'i' in "pin"

i (long)

like 'ee' in green

o (short)

mostly like 'o' in how the British say "Ox", rendering it a short 'å'; but in a few cases simply a short "oo", just like a short 'u'

o (long)

similar to a common pronunciation of 'oo' in "fool" or "cool"

u

(long) like the "oo" in "shoot" or "ou" in a possible rendering of "route"

u

(short) same sound as a long 'o' only short (much like the English "put")

y

like 'i' in "pin" (but narrower; y doesn't correspond to any sound in English. English speakers may have difficulty distinguishing Norwegian's i and y. It's similar to German ü or French u.) Halfway between "ee" and "ewwww".

æ

like 'a' in "mad"; almost always long. A short "ær" sound is spelled 'er'.

ø

like 'u' as in "burn" ("bu:n"). One starts with e and rounds one's lips to produce ø.

å

like 'o' as in "lord" (Note: in older texts or names may be written as "aa"); it is long unless followed by a double consonant.

The letters 'o' and 'u' may give you the most trouble. Some examples to help clarify:

egg (egg or edge) has a short "e" because of the double consonant;

elg (moose) also has a short "e"; the 'lg' qualifying as a doubling;

ed (oath) has a long "e";

er (is) has a long "æ", as does her (here) and der (there).

erke (arch) has a short "ær";

eller (or) starts with a short "e" and ends in a short unaccented 'er' where the "e" is reduced to a short "uh" -- "EL-uhr";

fil (file) has a long 'i' ("ee" in English);

fille (rag) has a short 'i';

komme (come) has a short "å" sound ("aw!");

for (for) also has a short "å" sound; therefore -

fôr (animal feed or food) is often given the ^ accent to convey its long "oo";

mor (mother), jord (earth), and sol (sun) all have a long "oo" (the 'd' in jord is silent);

hjort (deer) has a short "å" sound;

onkel (uncle) has a short "oo" very similar to a Scouse pronunciation;

kum (manhole) has a short "oo" just like 'onkel' (an '-mm' ending is not allowed);

jul (Christmas) has a long 'u' ("ewww");

ugle (owl) has a short 'u' (like "ewh!");

ære (honor/honour) has a long 'æ'

Some exceptions: The following words have a long "e" despite the 'er' convention:

ber, ler, ser, skjer, ter -- note that these are present-tense forms of verbs that end in -e: be, le, se, skje, te.

flere and mer also have a long "e" (not "æ").

Consonants

b

like 'b' in "book"

c

like 'c' in "cat" (mostly foreign words, no function in Norwegian)

ch

same as 'k' or 'kk' (Christian = "kristian", Bache = "bakke"; but in loanwords usually like in English, as in "chips" ("chips")), rarely used

d

like 'd' in "dog", silent at end of syllable or at end of word. (In eastern dialects d, t, and n are pronounced with the tongue touching the front teeth, producing a "flatter" sound than in English)

f

like 'f' in "face"

fj

as in "fjord"

g

like 'g' in "good", but like 'y' in "yes" before i or j, silent at the end of some words

h

like 'h' in "hat", silent before j or v

j

like 'y' in "yes"

k

like 'k' in "keep", but like 'ch' in German "ich" before i or j (IPA: [ç])

l

like 'l' in "late" (some variation, see below)

m

like 'm' in "mouse"

n

like 'n' in "nice"

p

like 'p' in "push"

q

like 'q' in "quick" (mostly foreign words, generally not used in Norwegian)

r

like 'tt' in "kitty" (many different variations ranging from Spanish to French sounding, in west Norway typically powerfully and distinctly pronounced. In Bergen and Stavanger regions the guttural R as in France and the Netherlands, further the rolling R as in Spanish.)

s

like 's' in "sun" (but in eastern Norway, followed by an 'l' or following an 'r', it becomes "sh")

t

like 't' in "top"; silent at the end of the word "det" and in determinate neuter nouns (e.g. "huset")

rt

a quick rap of the tongue, starting with the tip upward behind the hard palate (start saying "tch" but stop before you get to the "sh"); no native English equivalent (but heard in some Indian accents)

v

like 'v' in "viper"

w

most often, like 'v'; the letter only appears in proper names (e.g., Waldemar, Wenche, or the unit Watt); other than that, it may appear in foreign loan words and names where the pronunciation generally follows the original language (see below for more examples)

x

like 'x' in "box" (mostly foreign words, rarely used in Norwegian); words with this sound are generally spelled with 'ks' ('x' has no real function in Norwegian)

z

like 'z' in "zipper" (officially), but usually pronounced like 's' in "sun" (mostly foreign words, no function in Norwegian)

More on the letter L: There are three basic ways of pronouncing the letter 'L'. Generally speaking, if you stick with #1 or #2 below, you will never be misunderstood. #3 typically appears in eastern dialects but even there it may be considered informal and is avoided by many. The consonants b, f, g, k, and p, plus the vowel 'ø' take either L #1 or #3 as outlined further below, and the vowel 'å' takes L #2 or #3. (Note that this is an unofficial numbering.)

L #1: a thin-sounding 'l' where the tip of the tongue is on the hard part of the palate, not touching the front teeth, and slightly farther back than in English;

L #2: a thicker, flatter sounding 'l' with the tip of the tongue firmly against the back of the front teeth;

L #3: a flap of the tongue with the tip farther back in the mouth than with an 'r'.

(Some dialects use a 4th pronunciation where the middle of the tongue is on the soft palate; as a novice you should probably disregard this)

L #1 is what you will hear in the beginning of words: Lillehammer, lakk, lese, ligge, lomme, løpe...

- after 'i' and 'y' (both short and long): ille, spill, vil, vill, hvil, fil, fille, fyll, fylle, syl, sylte...

- after short 'u': full, gull, hull, kull, null, pulje, tull, rulle...

- after 'e': fjell, fjel, sel, tele, telefon, vel...

- after short 'yk': sykle, Myklebost...

- after 'g' or 'k' if followed by a long 'e': glede, klebe...

- after 't': atlas, Atle

- after 'd': middel, midler, seddel, sedler...

- after 'r' (the 'r' becomes silent): farlig, Berlin, berlinerkrans, særlig, herlig...

- after some 'ø's (long or short): føle, følge, føll, sølv, Sølve...

- after 's' (note that the 's' then becomes "sh" in Eastern Norwegian):

slag, slakk, slepe, slegge, slik, slikke, slips, slott, sluke, slukke, slutte, slør, slåss, rasle, rusle, vesle...

- in the words vafler, vaflene (plural of vaffel) and gafler, gaflene (pl. of gaffel)

L #2 is heard after 'a' (short or long): ball, sal, tall, falle, gal, kalle...

- after all short "å" sounds, including the short 'o' which is like "å": Dolly, Holmenkollen, olje, rolle, troll, volleyball...

- after long 'å': bål, mål, Pål, stål, Ståle, stråle, såle...

L #3 is applied somewhat irregularly but is often heard after long 'u': jul, fugl (the 'g' is silent here), smule, bule...

- after some long 'o's (single syllable words or unaccented second syllable): bol, gol, skole, sol, sole, stol, stoler...

- after some long 'ø's: høl, søle, Bøler, pøl, døl, fjøl, køl, møl...

- after short vowel + 'g': øgle, trygle, ugle (the 'g' is not silent), smugle, juggel (the 'u' is short and the 'e' unaccented)...

- after short vowel + 'k': nøkler, tråkle

- and after b, most f's, g's, k's, and p's : blad, bli, bly, blå, fly, flue, glad...

blekk, flagg, flink, fløte, gløppe, glass, klippe (meaning "to cut"), klubb, klump, plukke, plagg, plass...

(all of the preceding examples of L #3 can also take L #1)

- after 'æ': pæle, sæle, fjæl, gæli, tæl, tæle

(these never take L #1 but are rather replaced by other forms that do: pele, sele, fjel, galt, tel, tele)

- in the word 'dårlig'

- overlapping the use of L #2 for the following words (i.e. you may hear either one, with little or no consistency):

mål, måle, kål, såle, stål (but not the name Ståle), trål, tråle, tral, tåle, påle (but not the name Pål)

Certain factors have a softening effect on the 'l' in 'kl' and 'pl' combinations. Look for long 'a' or 'o', words of non-Germanic origin, or stress on the second or third syllable. The following examples all have L #1 and should never take L #3:

klar, klarinett, klassisk, klor, kloroform, plassére, plast, plastikk...

The vowel 'i' influences 'f', 'k', and 'p' in the same way and usually gives them L #1 (although L #3 is sometimes heard):

flid, flittig, klima, klippe (meaning "cliff"), plikt...

Some words that belong in "high society" are ideally given L #1 in the eastern dialects even if conventional wisdom would expect L #3: flygel, klimpre

The following words usually have L #1 even in eastern dialects: glede, gløde, nitroglyserin, globoid

More on the letter W: "Watt" as a unit is pronounced like "vatt" but the name James Watt would still be pronounced as in English; "William" can sound like "Villiam" or the English "William" depending on his nationality; "Wien", being (linguistically) German, is pronounced "veen".

Diphthongs and letter combinations

ei

like 'a' in Cockney or Australian pronunciation of "babe" (æ-i)

ai

like 'i' in "pine" (a-i)

au

similar to 'ow' in "how" (æ-u)

oi

like 'oy' in "boy" (å-y)

øy

like the 'u' in "burn" followed by the 'y' in "yet" (ø-y)

sj

like 'sh' in "shirt"

skj

like 'sh' in "shirt"

kj

like 'ch' in "church"

hj

like 'y' in "yes"

gj

like 'y' in "yes"

hv

like 'v' in "victory"

lj

the 'l' is silent if in the beginning of a word (e.g. "ljå": "yo")

gn

like 'in' in "rain"

aa

old form of 'å'

The letter 'j' often disappears if either of the letter combinations 'skj', 'kj' or 'gj' are used in front of diphthongs. There is also a convention that the letter 'j' cannot be followed by an 'i' or 'y'. Examples:

skøyte (skate) is pronounced "shøite";

kylling (chicken) is pronounced "chylling";

kiste (coffin) is pronounced "chisste";

gi (to give) is pronounced "yee" [note that 'gir' as the present tense of "gi" is pronounced "yeer" but the word for "gear" is still pronounced "geer" even though it is also spelled 'gir']

Exceptions

de

(the bokmål word, meaning "they") : like "dee" in "deer" (just as a whole word)

De

(meaning "you" in a formal setting): same pronunciation as 'de'

jeg

(the bokmål word, meaning "I") : like "Ya" in "Yale" or "yay"

og

(the bokmål and nynorsk word for "and") : the 'g' is silent if the word is unstressed (thus pronounced the same as "å"); "awg" if stressed.
[Note that many Norwegians struggle with the grammatical difference between "å" and "og" because of their similar pronunciation]