The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Danish pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-da}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

Transcriptions in articles are primarily based on the "distinct form" set out in Template:Harvp. Stress, stød, and vowel length are frequently lost in actual running speech.

See Danish phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of the language.

Vowels
IPA Examples English approximation
ɑ tak [ˈtsʰɑk] art
ɑː rane [ˈʁɑːnə] father
ʌ ånd [ˈʌnˀ] somewhat like off
ɒ normal [nɒˈmɛˀl] off
ɒː kort [ˈkʰɒːt] dog
æ kat [ˈkʰæt] bat
æː græde [ˈkʁæːðə] bad
bed [ˈpe̝ð] ('garden plot') bit
e̝ː mene [ˈme̝ːnə] bid
e ven [ˈven], frisk [ˈfʁesk] bait
mæle [ˈmeːlə] bade
ɛ bær [ˈpɛɐ̯] bet
ɛː gade [ˈkɛːðə] bed
i tisse [ˈtsʰisə] beat
mile [ˈmiːlə] bead
o foto [ˈfoto] story, but short
kone [ˈkʰoːnə] story
ɔ ost [ˈɔst] ('cheese') RP thought
ɔː måle [ˈmɔːlə] RP law
ø nød [ˈnøðˀ] somewhat like hurt
øː løber [ˈløːpɐ] ('runner') somewhat like herd
œ bønne [ˈpœnə] somewhat like hurt
œː høne [ˈhœːnə] somewhat like herd
ɶ tør [ˈtsʰɶɐ̯ˀ] ('dry') somewhat like but
ɶː røre [ˈʁɶːɐ] somewhat like bud
u ud [ˈuðˀ] moot
hule [ˈhuːlə] mood
y tyk [ˈtsʰyk] somewhat like refute
synlig [ˈsyːnli] somewhat like feud
Unstressed-only
ɐ løber [ˈløːpɐ] ('runner') coda
ð̩ malet [ˈmɛːlð̩][1][2] the book (pronounced quickly)
ə hoppe [ˈhʌpə] focus
gammel [ˈkɑml̩][1] bottle
København [kʰøpm̩ˈhɑwˀn][1] rhythm
vinden [ˈve̝nˀn̩] ('the wind')[1] sudden
ŋ̍ ryggen [ˈʁœkŋ̍][1] Washington
Consonants
IPA Examples English approximations
ɐ̯ er [ˈɛɐ̯] near
ɕ sjat [ˈɕæt] ship
ð øde [ˈøːðə][2] somewhat like bathe or bail
f fod [ˈfoðˀ] fan
h hat [ˈhæt] heart
j jord [ˈjoɐ̯ˀ], mig [ˈmɑj] yawn
k god [ˈkoðˀ] scar
kone [ˈkʰoːnə] car
l lykke [ˈløkə] lake
m mod [ˈmoðˀ] man
n node [ˈnoːðə] nap
ŋ lang [ˈlɑŋˀ] ring
p bog [ˈpɔwˀ] spot
pol [ˈpʰoˀl] pot
ʁ rød [ˈʁœðˀ] French parler
s sod [ˈsoðˀ] between sip and ship (retracted)
t dåb [ˈtɔˀp] start
tjener [ˈtɕeːnɐ] chin
tsʰ tak [ˈtsʰɑk] tart
v våd [ˈvɔðˀ] very
w hav [ˈhɑw] ('ocean') cow
Suprasegmentals
IPA Example Description
ˈ  ˌ husmor [ˈhusˌmoɐ̯] Stress (places before the stressed syllable)[3]
ˀ hun hund Template:Audio-IPA Stød[4]

Comparison of transcription schemes

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Transcriptions of Danish in linguistic and lexicographic literature deviate from the standard IPA in many aspects to dispense with diacritics and to maintain resemblance to the Dania transcription, which was influential in the development of Danish linguistics and maintains resemblance to Danish orthography. The conventions of this guide, on the other hand, seek adherence to standard IPA usage as much as possible so that readers who are already familiar with the standard IPA do not have to look up or remember the value of each symbol in the Danish tradition.

WP Example Template:Harvp Den Danske Ordbog Template:Harvp Template:Harvp udtale-
ordbog
.dk
Template:Harvp Politikens Nudansk Ordbog Narrow
tran-
scription[5]
Vowels
ɑ takke, sejle ɑ ɑ ɑ α a α, α̇[6] α[6] Template:IPAblink
kræft a æ ɑ̈ ä
ɑː trane, arne ɑː ɑː ɑː αː α·[6] α·[6] Template:IPAblink
ʌ måtte ʌ ʌ ʌ ʌ ɒ ɔ ɔ Template:IPAblink
ɒ vor ɒ ɒ ɒ ɔ ɒ å[7] år[8] Template:IPAblink
ɒː tårne ɒː ɒː ɒː ɔː ɒː å·[7] Template:IPAblink
æ malle a a a a æ ɑ a Template:IPAblink
række æ ɑ̈ ä Template:IPAblink
æː græde ɑː[9] æː ɑ̈ð ä· Template:IPAblink
list e e e e e e e Template:IPAblink
e̝ː mele Template:IPAblink
e læst ɛ ɛ ɛ ɛ ɛ æ æ Template:IPAblink
brist æ æ Template:IPAblink
mæle, bære ɛː ɛː ɛː, æː[9] ɛː ɛː, æː æ· æ· Template:IPAblink
grene, kræse æː æː æ·, æᶖ[10] [e̞ː~e̞j]
ɛ bær æ æ æ æ æ ɑ̇ ä Template:IPAblink
ɛː male æː æː æː æː ɑ̇· Template:IPAblink
i mis i i i i i i i Template:IPAblink
mile Template:IPAblink
o foto o o o o o o o Template:IPAblink
mole Template:IPAblink
ɔ ost ɔ ɔ ɔ å ɔ ɑ̊ å Template:IPAblink
ɔː måle ɔː ɔː ɔː åː ɔː ɑ̊· å· Template:IPAblink
ø kys ø ø ø ø ø ø ø Template:IPAblink
øː køle øː øː øː øː øː ø· ø· Template:IPAblink
œ høns, grynt œ œ œ, œ̞[9] ö œ ö ö Template:IPAblink
œː høne, røbe œː œː œː, œ̞ː[9] öː œː ö· ö· Template:IPAblink
ɶ gør ɶ ɶ œ̞ ɔ̈ ɶ ɔ̈ ɔ̈ Template:IPAblink
grøn ɶ Template:IPAblink
ɶː gøre ɶː ɶː œ̞ː ɔ̈ː ɶː ɔ̈· ɔ̈· Template:IPAblink
u guld, brusk u u u, o[9] u u u u Template:IPAblink
mule, ruse uː, oː[9] Template:IPAblink
y lyt y y y y y y y Template:IPAblink
kyle Template:IPAblink
Unstressed-only
ɐ fatter ɐ ʌ ɐ ʌ ɐ ɔ ɔ Template:IPAblink
ð̩ måned ð̩ əð ð̩ əð ɤ ð̩ əð [ð̩˕˗ˠ]
ə hoppe ə ə ə ə ə ə ə Template:IPAblink
gammel əl əl əl [l̩]
hoppen ən ən ən [m̩]
hesten [n̩]
ŋ̍ pakken ŋ̩ ŋ̩ ŋ̩ ŋ̩ [ŋ̍]
Consonants
ɐ̯ smør ɐ̯ ɐ̯ ɐ̯ ʀ ɐ ɹ r [ɒ̯̽]
ɕ sjat ɕ ɕ ɕ ʃ ɕ sj Template:IPAblink
ð mad ð ð ð ð ɤ ð ð Template:IPAblink
f fisk f f f f f f f Template:IPAblink
h hus h h h h h h h Template:IPAblink
j jul j j j j j j j Template:IPAblink
mig ɪ̯ ɪ [10]
k gås ɡ̊ ɡ ɡ̊ g k ɡ g Template:IPAblink
kål k k k k [kʰ]
l lås l l l l l l l Template:IPAblink
m mus m m m m m m m Template:IPAblink
n ni n n n n n n n Template:IPAblink
ŋ perron ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ Template:IPAblink
p bål b b p b b Template:IPAblink
pille p p p p [pʰ]
ʁ rose ʁ ʁ ʁ r ʁ r r Template:IPAblink
s sæl s s s s s s s Template:IPAblink
t dåse d d t d d Template:IPAblink
tjene tˢj tj t͡ɕ tj tj tj Template:IPAblink
tsʰ taske t t ts t t Template:IPAblink
v vams v v v v v v v Template:IPAblink
w hav ʊ̯ w w w ʊ w w Template:IPAblink
Stød and stress
ˈtsʰiˀ ti ˈtˢiːˀ ˈtiˀ ˈtˢiːˀ ˈtiːʼ ˈtsḭː ˈtiʼ ˈtiʼ [ˈtsʰḭˑ]

Notes

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  1. 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 /əð, əl, ən/ become syllabic consonants [ð̩, l̩, m̩, n̩, ŋ̍] in a process known as schwa-assimilation ([m̩, ŋ̍] are variants of /ən/, assimilated to the place of the preceding consonant). The process also often affects /ə/ after a long vowel or /ð, j, l, n, v/, but these types of assimilation are not as ubiquitous as, and are more contextually constrained than, the aforementioned combinations Template:Harvcol, so they are not reflected in transcription.
  2. 2,0 2,1 For most speakers, the sound represented by [ð] is more accurately a velarized laminal alveolar approximant [ð̠˕ˠ]. Rarely, it is realized as a fricative.
  3. In Standard Copenhagen Danish, a stressed syllable has a lower pitch than the following unstressed syllable, which then has a high-falling pitch.
  4. Stød, which is realized most often as creaky voice (found in English as the vocal fry register; ◌̰ in standard IPA), can only occur after a long vowel or a sequence of a short vowel and [ð, j, l, m, n, ŋ, w, ɐ̯] in a stressed syllable. Phonologically long vowels with stød are shorter in realization, so they are transcribed as short in this guide (cf. pæn /ˈpɛːˀn/ [ˈpʰeˀn] 'nice', pen /ˈpɛnˀ/ [ˈpʰenˀ] 'pen').
  5. Basbøll (2005).
  6. 6,0 6,1 6,2 6,3 Though indistinguishable in some fonts, Template:Angbr for [ɑ] is the italic Greek alpha, not the Latin alpha, Template:Angbr, which represents [æ] in Dania.
  7. 7,0 7,1 Template:Angbr for [ɒ] is oblique in print, but here shown in normal type because its italic form is indistinguishable from Template:Angbr, which represents [ɔ], in most serif fonts.
  8. On Ordbogen.com, Template:Angbr represents [ɒː] when stressed and [ɒ] when unstressed.
  9. 9,0 9,1 9,2 9,3 9,4 9,5 Grønnum describes the speech of younger speakers than do other sources. This key follows the latter, which describe varieties where [æː, œ, œː, u, uː] can follow [ʁ] and [eː] can precede [ɐ].
  10. 10,0 10,1 In print, the rightward hook in Template:Angbr extends directly from the stem of Template:Angbr (somewhat like Template:Angbr but shorter).

References

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  • Basbøll, Hans (2005). The Phonology of Danish. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-203-97876-5.
  • Brink, Lars; Lund, Jørn; Heger, Steffen; Jørgensen, J. Normann (1991). Den Store Danske Udtaleordbog. Copenhagen: Munksgaard. ISBN 87-16-06649-9.
  • Grønnum, Nina (2005). Fonetik og fonologi: almen og dansk (3rd ed.). Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag. ISBN 87-500-3865-6.
  • Molbæk Hansen, Peter (1990). Udtaleordbog. Copenhagen: Gyldendal. ISBN 978-87-02-05895-6.
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