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Norwegian (Bokmål) is written with the Latin alphabet, and its spelling is far more regular than English spelling. An English speaker meets four things that are new: vowels that are long or short, with the length shown by the spelling; the letters y, u, æ, ø and å, whose sounds English lacks or spells otherwise; k, g and sk, which are said softly before i and y; and the kj- and sj-sounds, which have no English spelling. A double consonant is not read twice: it marks a short vowel before it.
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The Norwegian alphabet
The alphabet has twenty-nine letters: the twenty-six of English, followed by æ, ø and å after z. The letters c, q, w, x and z are found mostly in foreign words and names (cola, quiz, webside, taxi, zoo); w is said as v. The letters æ, ø and å are letters in their own right, with their own place in the alphabet and in the dictionary, not a and o with a mark.
A letter’s name is what you say when you spell a word aloud, for example your name or address on the phone.
| Letter | Name | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a /ɑː/ | /ɑː/ · /ɑ/ | mat katt | long, like “a” in “father” (dag); short, the same sound said shorter (katt) said a, like “a” in “father” |
| B b | be /beː/ | /b/ | by | as in English (by) said be, like “bay” without the glide into “ee” |
| C c | se /seː/ | /s/ · /k/ | cola | “s” before e, i, y and “k” elsewhere (cola); a letter of loanwords said se, like “say” without the glide |
| D d | de /deː/ | /d/ · silent | dag rød | as in English (dag), with the tongue against the upper teeth; often silent at the end of a word (rød) said de, like “day” without the glide |
| E e | e /eː/ | /eː/ · /ɛ/ · /ə/ | en seng jente | long, like “ay” in “day” without the glide into “ee” (en); short, like “e” in “bed” (seng); at the end of a word, a weak “a” as in “about” (jente) said e, like “ay” in “day” without the glide |
| F f | eff /ɛf/ | /f/ | far | as in English (far) said eff, like English “eff” |
| G g | ge /ɡeː/ | /ɡ/ · /j/ | gå gi | “g” of “go” (gå); before i and y it is said like “y” in “yes” (gi) said ge, “gay” with the “g” of “go” |
| H h | hå /hoː/ | /h/ | hus | like “h” in “hat” (hus) said hå, “haw” |
| I i | i /iː/ | /iː/ · /ɪ/ | is ikke | long, like “ee” in “see” (is); short, like “i” in “bit” (ikke) said i, like “ee” in “see” |
| J j | je /jeː/ | /j/ | jul ja | like “y” in “yes”; never the “j” of “jam” (ja) said je, “yay”, with the “y” of “yes” |
| K k | kå /koː/ | /k/ · /ç/ | katt kino | “k” of “key” (katt); before i and y a soft hiss, like “h” in “huge” (kino) said kå, “kaw” |
| L l | ell /ɛl/ | /l/ | land | as in English (land), clear and light said ell, like English “el” |
| M m | emm /ɛm/ | /m/ | mor | as in English (mor) said emm, like English “em” |
| N n | enn /ɛn/ | /n/ | nei | as in English (nei) said enn, like English “en” |
| O o | o /uː/ | /uː/ · /ʊ/ · /ɔ/ | bok og topp | long, like “oo” in “food” (bok); short, like “o” in “hot” (topp); in og (“and”) like “o” in “more” said o, like “oo” in “food”; never “oh” as in English “go” |
| P p | pe /peː/ | /p/ | penger | as in English (penger) said pe, like “pay” without the glide |
| Q q | ku /kʉː/ | /k/ | quiz | “k” (quiz); a letter of loanwords said ku, like “kew” with the lips rounded as for u |
| R r | ærr /ær/ | /r/ | rød | a rolled or tapped “r” at the front of the mouth (rød); never the English “r” said ærr, like “air” with a rolled “r” |
| S s | ess /ɛs/ | /s/ | sol | “s” of “sun”, always (sol); never “z” said ess, like English “ess” |
| T t | te /teː/ | /t/ | tog | as in English (tog), with the tongue against the upper teeth said te, with the vowel of “day” without the glide |
| U u | u /ʉː/ | /ʉː/ · /ʉ/ | hus | long, a sound English lacks: say “ee” with the lips pushed forward and tightly rounded (hus); short, the same, shorter said u, the long sound of hus |
| V v | ve /veː/ | /v/ | vann | as in English (vann) said ve, with the vowel of “day” without the glide |
| W w | dobbelt-ve /ˈdɔbl̩tˌveː/ | /v/ | webside | “v” (webside); a letter of foreign words said dobbelt-ve: “dobbelt” and the name of v |
| X x | eks /ɛks/ | /ks/ | taxi | “ks” as in “box” (taxi) said eks, like English “ex” |
| Y y | y /yː/ | /yː/ · /ʏ/ | by | long, the vowel of French tu or German ü: say “ee” with the lips rounded as for “oo” (by); short, the same, shorter said y, the long sound of by |
| Z z | sett /sɛt/ | /s/ | zoo | “s” of “sun” (zoo); never “z” said sett, with the “e” of “bed” |
| Æ æ | æ /æː/ | long, like “a” in “bad” but held longer (lærer); short, like “a” in “bad” (være) said æ, the long sound of lærer | ||
| Ø ø | ø /øː/ | long, round your lips as for “oh” and say the “ay” of “day” (øl); short, close to “u” in “fur” without the “r” (grønn) said ø, the long sound of øl | ||
| Å å | å /oː/ | long, like “o” in “more” with rounder lips (blå); short, like “o” in “hot” (åtte) said å, like “o” in “more” |
Spelling aloud. A word is spelt aloud with the name of each letter: hus (“house”) is spelt hå – u – ess. A double letter is named twice: katt is spelt kå – a – te – te. The letters æ, ø and å are named with their own names.
- hushouse
- gågo
- ølbeer
Remember
The names of e, i and o are not the English ones: e is said like “ay” in “day”, i like “ee” in “see” and o like “oo” in “food”. The Norwegian j is “yay”, never “jay”, and g is “gay”, never “jee”.
Many consonants are said much as in English: b, d, f, l, m, n, p, s, t and v. The vowels are pure: e and o do not glide into “ee” or “oo” as English “day” and “go” do. The vowels u, y, æ, ø and å are the ones most new to an English speaker.
Difference from English
English spells one sound in many ways, and says one letter in many ways. Norwegian spells with more regularity, but two things are new. Every vowel is long or short, and a long u or y is a sound English lacks. And k and g are hard (“k” and “g”) before a, o, u, å and before a consonant, but soft before i and y: katt (“cat”) with a hard k, kino (“cinema”) with a soft hiss like “h” in “huge”; gå (“go”) with a hard g, gi (“give”) with “y” as in “yes”.
Long and short vowels
A stressed vowel is usually long before one consonant (dag, by, is) and short before two or more consonants (katt, land, kjøkken); a few short words are exceptions. A stressed vowel at the end of a word is long (gå, by). A double consonant, as in katt and penn, marks a short vowel before it; it is not read as two sounds.
- dag / kattday / cat
- is / ikkeice / not
- katt / kinocat / cinema
- gå / gigo / give
Practise
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Letter groups
Norwegian writes several sounds with a group of letters. One is said as in English: ng, the “ng” of “sing”. The others are new to an English speaker: the kj-sound, the sj-sound, the diphthongs, and the silent h and g at the start of a few words. The groups rt, rd, rn and rl are said with the tongue curled back in most Eastern speech; the learner’s plain “t”, “d”, “n” and “l” are understood.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| kj | /ç/ | kjøkken | a soft hiss, like “h” in “huge” or a light “ch”; never a “k” (kjøkken) |
| tj | /ç/ | tjue | the same soft hiss as kj (tjue) |
| sj | /ʂ/ | sju | a breathy sound, like “sh” in “ship” said further back in the mouth; no English spelling has it (sju) |
| skj | /ʂ/ | skjorte | the same sj-sound (skjorte) |
| rs | /ʂ/ | norsk | like “sh” in “ship”: r and s are said as one sound, with the tongue curled back (norsk) |
| hv- | /v/ | hva | at the start of a word, “v”; the h is silent (hva) |
| hj- | /j/ | hjem | at the start of a word, “y” as in “yes”; the h is silent (hjem) |
| gj- | /j/ | gjøre | at the start of a word, “y” as in “yes”; the g is silent (gjøre) |
| ei | /æɪ/ | nei | “eh” gliding into “ee”, close to “ay” in “day” but starting more open, like “a” in “bad” (nei) |
| øy | /œʏ/ | øye | the “ø” of øl gliding into “ee”; no English word has it (øye) |
| au | /æʉ/ | sau | an “a” as in “bad” gliding into the rounded u sound (sau) |
| ng | /ŋ/ | penger | the “ng” of “sing”, with no “g” sound after it (penger) |
- kjøkkenkitchen
- tjuetwenty
- sjuseven
- skjorteshirt
- norskNorwegian
- hvawhat
- hjemhome
- neino
- øyeeye
- sausheep
Difference from English
English has no spelling for the kj- and sj-sounds. The kj-sound is close to the “h” of “huge” or a light “ch”; the sj-sound is something like “sh”, but made further back in the mouth. A Norwegian hears the difference from a plain “sh” or “ch”, but a learner’s “sh” and “ch” are understood. Also new: sk is said as the sj-sound before i and y (ski), and as “sk” as in “skate” elsewhere (skole).
Remember
In hv-, hj- and gj- at the start of a word, the first letter is not said: hva is “va”, hjem is “yem”, gjøre is “yø-re”.
Practise
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Written marks
Three letters are written with a mark: æ, ø and å. Each is a letter of its own, placed after z, and a word changes with the mark: bær (“berries”) and bar (“bar”) are two different words.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| æ | /æː/ · /æ/ | lærer være | long, like “a” in “bad” held longer; short, like “a” in “bad” (lærer, være) |
| ø | /øː/ · /œ/ | øl grønn | round your lips as for “oh” and say the “ay” of “day”; short, close to “u” in “fur” without the “r” (øl, grønn) |
| å | /oː/ · /ɔ/ | blå åtte | long, like “o” in “more” with rounder lips; short, like “o” in “hot” (blå, åtte) |
Difference from English
The marked letters are not accented forms of a and o, as “é” is an accented “e”. They are vowels of their own, with their own place after z in the dictionary, and ø has no English counterpart: it is close to “ur” in “fur” said without an “r” when short, and to French eu. When a keyboard lacks them, people sometimes write ae, o and aa; the right spelling keeps the letters.
- blåblue
- ølbeer
- lærerteacher
Practise
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Silent letters
A few letters are written but not said. Learn them with the word.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| -d | silent | rød med | silent at the end of a word, mostly after a long vowel (rød, med, god) |
| -e | /ə/ | jente | the final e is not silent: it is a weak “a” as in “about” (jente) |
Remember
A final d after a long vowel is often not said: rød (“red”) sounds like “rø”. A final e is always said, softly, like the “a” of “sofa”: jente (“girl”) has two syllables.