Page:A Danish and Dano-Norwegian grammar.djvu/25

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DANISH SOUNDS.
11

Fysik; c) when y is followed by the combinations ld or lt; Ex.: fylde to fill, Stylte stilt; d) in some other words; Ex.: Frygt fright, styg ugly, tyk thick. (As for the letter y representing the sound of ø see § 25.)


DANISH DIPHTHONGS.


28. Danish spelling has the following Diphthongs:

av, ov, æv, öv and aj, ej, oj, öj.

The consonant part of these diphthongs has in spite of the peculiar Danish spelling with v and j the sounds of w and i[1]. In the diphthongs of the w-series the vowel part retains its peculiar sound (a, o, æ, ö); Ex.: Havn harbor, hævne to revenge, nævne to name, hovne to swell, Hövl plane, Stövle boot, Vrövl nonsense; but in the i-series a and e are pronounced as a, o and ö as a sound approaching å; aj and ej are pronounced like English y in my, oj and öj like English oy in boy; vaje to wave and veje to weigh pronounced in the same manner; böje to bend and Boje a buoy, both pronounced alike. Another sign for the diphthong ej is eg; Ex.: jeg pr. jaj; Vegne in allevegne, everywhere (pron. vainə, e. g. rhyme: Vegne, Hygiajne). 16 is now spelt sejsten, formerly sexten. Nögle (pr. nåilə) key; Vindbeutel (pron. venbåitl) braggart; but in Zeus, Europa etc. eu is pronounced öv.


DANISH CONSONANTS.


29. The difference between tenues (p, t, k) and mediae (b, d, g) is not so much dependent upon the circumstance of

  1. Some Danish grammarians think that the Danish diphthongs really have the consonants v and j for their second part.