Appendix:Norwegian Nynorsk pronunciation

This is a guide to the pronunciation of Norwegian Nynorsk and how to transcribe pronunciations on Wiktionary.

There is no centrally mandated pronunciation of Norwegian. In Wiktionary, the pronunciation given for Norwegian Nynorsk generally reflects the pronunciation in the parts of Norway where Nynorsk is mostly used, as well as which has the most phonemes. The phonemic transcriptions will ideally differentiate between phonemes that may have merged in some dialects. Other pronunciations may also be possible.

/p, t, k/ are all aspirated and pronounced almost identically to the equivalent English sounds. /b, d, ɡ/ are distinctly voiced, moreso than the English equivalents of most dialects.

The pronunciation of /r/ varies in the various dialects. In eastern dialects the pronunciation is more forward, [ɾ] or [r] while the pronunciation in south western dialects is further back, [ʁ] [χ]. The northernmost dialects use [ɹ], akin to English and Faroese.

In some dialects /s, t, d, n, l/ merge with /r/ and /ɽ/ into retroflex [ʂ, ɖ, ʈ, ɳ, ɭ], or postalveolar [ʃ, t̠, d̠, n̠, l̠]. Some dialects further differentiate between /r/ and /ɽ/ and pronounce /rn/ like [n̠] (while /n/ is [n̪]), and /ɽn/ like [ɳ]. In some dialects, /rɽ/ also merge into [ɻ].

• /rs/ → [ɻʂ], [ʂ], (regional) [ɹʃ], [ʃ]: Lars, [lɐ̞ːɻʂ], [lɐ̞ːɹʃ] “Lars, male given name”
• /rt/ → [ɻʈ], [ʈ], (regional) [ɹt̠], [t̠]: bart, [bɐ̞ɻʈː], [bɐ̞ɹt̠ː] “moustache”
• /rd/ → [ɻɖ], [ɖ], (regional) [ɹd̠], [d̠]: når du, [¹no̞ɻ.ɖʉˑ], [¹no̞ɹ.d̠ʉˑ] “when you”; varde, [²ʋɐ̞ːɻ.ɖə], [²ʋɐ̞ːɹ.d̠ə] “lasted”
• /rn/ → [ɻɳ], [ɳ], (regional) [ɹn̠], [n̠]: garn, [ɡɐ̞ːɻɳ], [ɡɐ̞ːɹn̠] “yarn”; farne, [²fɐ̞ːɻ.ɳə], [²fɐ̞ː.ɹn̠ə] “gone (plural)”
• /rl/ → [ɻɭ], [ɭ], (regional) [ɹl̠], [l̠]: farleg, [²fɐ̞ːɻ.ɭə(ɡ)], [²fɐ̞ːɹ.l̠ə(ɡ)] “dangerous”

Old Norse /rs/ or /rn/ have commonly turned into /sː/ and /nː/, but some dialects retain /rs/ and /rn/. Loanwords or literary words with ⟨rs⟩ and ⟨rn⟩ have /rs/ and /rn/ in all dialects.

⟨rd⟩ is usually /r/ or /ɽ/ in native words, descending from Old Norse /rð/. Most loanwords, however, and some literary words, have /rd/.

• /ɽs/ → [ɻʂ], [ʂ]: hals, /haɽs/ → [hɐ̞ɻʂ] “neck”; gulsott, /²ɡʊːɽ.sutː/ → [²ɡʊːɻ.ʂu̞tˑ] “jaundice”
• /ɽt/ → [ɻʈ], [ʈ]: gult, /ɡʊɽt/ → [ɡʊːɻʈ] “yellow (neuter)”; måltid, /²mɔːɽ.tiː/ → [²mo̞ːɻ.ʈiˑ] “meal, time for eating”
• /ɽd/ → [ɻɖ], [ɖ] || hulder, /¹hʊɽd.əɾ/ → [¹hʊɻ.ɖəɾ] “hulder, elf”; valde, /²vaɽ.də/ → [²ʋɐ̞ɻ.ɖə] “chose”; bordduk, /²buːɽ.dʉːk/ → [²bu̞ːɻ.ɖʉˑk] “tablecloth”
• /ɽn/ → [ɻɳ], [ɳ]: garden, /¹ɡaːɽ.n̩/ → [¹ɡɐ̞ːɻ.ɳ̩] “the farm”; jordnær, /²juːɽ.næːr/ → [²ju̞ːɻ.ɳæˑɾ] “down to earth”
• /ɽl/ → [ɻɭ], [ɭ]: mållag, /²mɔːɽ.laːɡ/ → [²mo̞ːɻ.ɭɐ̞ɡ] “language organisation”; nordleg, /²nuːɽ.lə(ɡ)/ → [²nu̞ːɻ.ɭə(ɡ)] “northern”
• /ɽr/ → [ɻ]: gulrot, /²ɡʊːɽ.ruːt/ → [²ɡʊː.ɻuˑt] “carrot”

Alveolars following retroflexes may also become retroflex, for instance huldra /¹hʊɽd.ra/ → [¹hʊɻɖ.ɻɐ̞], hårstrikk /²ho̞ːr.strɪkˑ/ → [²ho̞ːɻ.ʂtɾɪkˑ] → [²ho̞ːɻ.ʂʈɻɪkˑ], and nummer tre /ˌnumːər ˈtreː/ → [ˌnu̞mˑəɻˈʈɻeː].

The phoneme /a/ is realised as a lowered near-open central vowel [ɐ̞], or centralised open back unrounded vowel [ɑ̈]. In the dialects of Solør and Hedmarka, it’s [ɑ].

In many Norwegian dialects, /y/ and /ʏ/ are different phonemes, such as in hyl [hyʷːl] “scream” and hỳl [hʏʷːl] “river pothole”. In other dialects, [ʏʷ] may merge with [ø] (compare the spelling høl from earlier hyl, hỳl), and leave [ʏʷ] as an allophone of [yʷ]. Most Norwegian phonologies, as a result of basing themselves on Urban East Norwegian, don’t treat [ʏʷ] as a phoneme, despite the presence in the Norwegian spoken language. This has not been the tradition with Nynorsk, and dictionaries like Norsk Ordbog by Ivar Aasen differenciate between the “open” [ʏʷ] and “closed” [yʷ]. This is similar to how one differenciates between e.g. [u̞] and [ɞ̞] in hól [hu̞ːl] “low hillock” and hòl [hɞ̞ːl] “hole”.

In some dialects, like the one of Setesdal, the “closed” y (< Old Norse ý, ȳ) has developed into a diphthong. A word like sky (< Old Norse ský) is therefore pronounced [ʃuy̯ʷː] or [sjuy̯ʷː]. The “open” y (< Old Norse y) is pronounced like [yʷ] or [yʷø̯]. Example: ON fyl → [fyʷːl] “foal”; ON synir → [²sʷyø̯ʷːnɪ] (sỳni) “sons”. The latter has also become [²sʷy̯øʷːnɪ] (sø̀ni).

The Norwegian /y/ and /ʏ/ are commonly realised as protruded [yʷ] and [ʏʷ], while it’s common to write them as [y] and [ʏ]. Some dialects, in Western Telemark and North Gudbrand Valley, use the non-protruded, or regular, y [yᵝ] and [ʏᵝ]. Example: syl [syᵝːl] “awl”. The distinction is therefore relevant, not only on an international level, but also on a national one.

Short å has commonly the more open pronunciation [ɔ], so that the neuter of grå [ɡro̞ː] is [ɡrɔtː] instead of [ɡro̞tː]. In Setesdal, the vowel retains its length even before long consonant sounds, and does not change quality. Grått is therefore [ɡro̞ːtː].

The vowel å (from Old Norse á) has some places become a diphthong, most prominently in Hardanger, Voss and Sogn, with the pronunciations [ɐ̞u̞̯], [ɐ̞ʊ̯] or [ɔ̞u̞̯]. The eye dialect spelling of this is commonly ao or åo, such as in sognamaol (sognamål, lit. ‘Sogn language’), the dialect of Sogn.

The diphthong au is pronounced in various ways, most commonly [œʊ̯] and [əʊ̯], but some places also [æ̞ʊ̯], [æʊ̯], [ɐʊ̯], [ɞ̞ʊ̯], [u̞ʊ̯] and [əɵ]. In Setesdal, Hallingdal, Valdres, and parts of Nordfjord and Sunnmøre, it is pronounced [ɐ̞ʉ̯], [a̝ʊ̯] and [ɔ̞ʉ̯].^[1] Setesdal also has [a̝u̯] and [o̞u̯], and [œu̯] in the southern part.^[2]

The diphthong ei has a smaller amount of variations, and is most commonly pronounced [æi̯] or [ɛ̝ɪ̯]. Other pronunciations are [a̝ɪ̯] in Setesdal, Hallingdal, Valdres, Hardanger, Voss, Inner Nordfjord and South Gudbrand Valley, and also [æ̞ɪ̯] in the latter two.^[1] Setesdal also has [ɐ̞ɪ̯] and [æ̞ɪ̯].^[2]

The diphthong øy is almost always [œʏ̯ʷ], with the most common exception being dialects where it’s merged with ei due to iotacism. Parts of Inner Hordaland, Sogn, Inner Nordfjord and Inner Sunnmøre have [o̞ɪ̹̯], and other places have [oy̯ʷ], [ɐ̞y̯ʷ], [ɔy̯ʷ], [ɶ̠y̯ʷ] and [œɪ̹̯]. In Setesdal, it’s [ɔ̞ʏ̯ʷ].^[2]

Most dialects of Norwegian separate between two distinct tonemes. The way they are realised differs considerably between different dialects. The table gives only a few examples.