Page:A Danish and Dano-Norwegian grammar.djvu/27

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DANISH SOUNDS.
13

33. b is pronounced as the voiced labial stop (Engl. b) 1) in the beginning of a word or a syllable; Ex.: lade to bathe, Brok hernia, Blæk ink, Taabe fool, 2) at the end of a word or a syllable after along vowel; Ex.: Gab gap, Stab stoff, Daab baptism.

34. The sound midway between b and p is represented by the sign of b, 1) at the end of a word or syllable after a short vowel; Ex.: Lab paw, Grib vulture; 2) when written double between two vowels: Labber paws, Ribbe rib.

35. m like English m: Mad food, ham him; double m (mm) pronounced short: kom(m)e to come.

36. f is a labiodental voiceless open consonant and has a sound similar to English f: faa few, Skuffe drawer, Ruf deckhouse.

In some words the sound of f is represented in writing by v: thus in the beginning of the foreign words: Vernis varnish, Viol, violet, Violin, and also sometimes before t as in grovt rough (neut. of grov), havt had (prtcp. of have) pron. graft, haft, which now also is the official way of spelling.

Note. Stiffader, stepfather, pronounced stefar, so also other compounds with stif- step- pronounced ste.

37. v is a labiodental open voiced consonant similar in pronunciation to English v; it occurs in the beginning of words and after a consonant, after a long vowel and in foreign words; Ex.: Van(d) water, Sværd sword, evig eternal, lavt low (neuter), Avis newspaper.

In the pronunciation of the Copenhagen dialect v often takes the place of b after a vowel; løbe pron. løve, Köbenhavn pron. Køvenhavn; in some words both forms are written promiscuously: Knebel and Knevel, knevle and kneble gag and to gag.

The sound of v is written f in af præp. of, pron. av, aw (see § 28), a.