The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Danish pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.
See Danish phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of this language.
Consonants
IPA
Examples
Closest equivalent
b̥
bog [ˈb̥ɔʊ̯ˀ] 'book'
b all
d̥
dåb [ˈd̥ɔːˀb̥] 'christening'
d one
ð
øde [ˈøːðə] 'deserted'
bath e
ð̩
skinnede [ˈsɡ̊enð̩ðə] 'shone'[1]
th e book (pronounced quickly)
f
fod [ˈfoðˀ] 'foot'
f oot
ɡ̊
god [ˈɡ̊oðˀ] 'good'
g uest
h
hat [ˈhad̥] 'hat'
h at
j
jord [ˈjoɐ̯ˀ] 'earth'
y ou
kʰ
kone [ˈkʰoːnə] 'wife'
c one
l
lov [ˈlɒʊ̯] 'law'
l ouver
l̩
solen [ˈsoːˀl̩n] 'the sun'[1]
bottle
m
mod [ˈmoðˀ] 'courage'
m ood
m̩
København [kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn] 'Copenhagen'[1]
rhythm
n
node [ˈnoːðə] 'note'
n oon
n̩
vinden [ˈʋenˀn̩] 'the wind'[1]
sudden ly
ŋ
lang [ˈlɑŋˀ] 'long'
long
ŋ̍
ryggen [ˈʁœɡ̊ŋ̍] 'the spine'[1]
take an interest
pʰ
pol [ˈpʰoːˀl] 'pole'
p ole
ʁ
rød [ˈʁœðˀ] 'red'
guttural R
s
sod [ˈsoðˀ] 'soot'
s oon
ɕ
Sjælland [ˈɕɛˌlanˀ] 'Zealand '[2]
sh eep
tˢ
tak [ˈtˢɑɡ̊] 'thank you'
t oo
tɕ
tjener [ˈtɕeːnɐ] 'servant'[2]
ch eer
ʋ
våd [ˈʋɔðˀ] 'wet'
v ote
Vowels
IPA
Examples
Closest equivalent
monophthongs
a
kat [ˈkʰad̥] 'cat'
ha t
ɑ
tak [ˈtˢɑɡ̊] 'thank you'
a rt
ɑː
barn [ˈbɑːˀn] 'child'
fa ther
ʌ
ånd [ˈʌnˀ] 'spirit'
RP /Australian ho t
ɒ
og [ˈɒʊ̯] 'and'
ɒː
i går [iˈɡ̊ɒːˀ] 'yesterday'
RP/Australian no d
æ
frisk [ˈfʁæsɡ̊] 'fresh'
be t
æː
gade [ˈɡ̊æːðə] 'street'
be d
e
fed [ˈfeð] 'fat'
ki t
eː
hel [ˈheːˀl] 'whole'
ki d
ɛ
ven [ˈʋɛn] 'friend'
Scottish la te
ɛː
hæl [ˈhɛːˀl] 'heel'
Scottish da y
i
tisse [ˈtˢisə] 'pee'
lea f
iː
si [ˈsiːˀ] 'sieve'
lea ve
o
flod [ˈfloðˀ] 'river'
Scottish oa k
oː
kone [ˈkʰoːnə] 'wife'
Scottish sto ve
ɔ
ost [ˈɔsd̥] 'cheese'
RP thou ght
ɔː
måle [ˈmɔːlə] 'to measure'
RP law
ø
nød [ˈnøðˀ] 'nut'
Somewhat like nur se
œ
bønne [ˈb̥œnə] ) 'bean'
øː
løber [ˈløːb̥ɐ] 'runner'
Somewhat like fur
œː
afgrøde [ˈaʊ̯ɡ̊ʁœːðə] 'crop'
ɶ
tør [ˈtˢɶɐ̯ˀ] ) 'dry'
ca t (rounded)
ɶː
fyrre [ˈfɶːɐ] 'forty'
la d (rounded)
u
ud [ˈuðˀ] 'out'
boo t
uː
hule [ˈhuːlə] 'cave'
foo d
y
tyk [ˈtˢyɡ̊] 'thick'
Somewhat like cu te
yː
synlig [ˈsyːnli] 'visible'
Somewhat like feu d
diphthongs [3]
æɐ̯
er [æɐ̯] 'am, are, is'
Traditional RP there
eɐ̯
Per [ˈpʰeɐ̯] 'Per (a male given name)'
Somewhat like near in traditional RP
iɐ̯
birk [ˈb̥iɐ̯ɡ̊] 'birch'
yɐ̯
styrke [ˈsd̥yɐ̯ɡ̊ə] 'force'
oɐ̯
sort [ˈsoɐ̯d̥] 'black (adj.)'
Somewhat like cure in traditional RP
uɐ̯
ur [uɐ̯ˀ] 'watch'
øɐ̯
mørne [ˈmøɐ̯nə] 'tenderize'
Somewhat like fur
œɐ̯
mørk [ˈmœɐ̯ɡ̊] 'dark'
ɑɪ̯
mig [ˈmɑɪ̯] 'me'
pri ce
æɪ̯
lag [ˈlæɪ̯ˀ] 'layer'
fa ce
ɛɪ̯
hæg! [ˈhɛɪ̯ˀ] 'harbour!'
eɪ̯
sneg [ˈsneɪ̯ˀ] 'sneaked'
uɪ̯
huje [ˈhuɪ̯ə] 'to whoop'
Somewhat like to ea t
øɪ̯
søg! [ˈsøɪ̯ˀ] 'seek!'
Somewhat like choi ce
ʌɪ̯
møg [ˈmʌɪ̯] 'crap'
ɑʊ̯
hav [ˈhɑʊ̯] 'sea'
mou th
æʊ̯
hæv! [ˈhæʊ̯ˀ] 'raise!'
Australian/New Zealand mou th
ɛʊ̯
evne [ˈɛʊ̯nə] 'ability'
Somewhat like new
eʊ̯
lev [ˈleʊ̯ˀ] 'live!'
iʊ̯
ivrig [ˈiʊ̯ʁi] 'eager'
yʊ̯
tyv [ˈtˢyʊ̯ˀ] 'thief'
oʊ̯
slog [ˈsloʊ̯ˀ] 'slain'
go
ɔʊ̯
låg [ˈlɔʊ̯ˀ] 'cover'
ɒʊ̯
lov [ˈlɒʊ̯] 'law'
øʊ̯
øvrig [ˈøʊ̯ʁi] 'additional'
Somewhat like go
œʊ̯
støvle [ˈsd̥œʊ̯lə] 'to boot'
stød
ˀ
ti [ˈtˢiːˀ] 'ten'
butt on
unstressed only
ɐ
løber [ˈløːb̥ɐ] 'runner'
bu t
ə
hoppe [ˈhʌb̥ə] 'jump'
a bout
ɪ
kage [ˈkʰæːɪ] 'cake'[4]
hi t
ʊ
mave [ˈmæːʊ] 'stomach'[4]
foo t
References
^ a b c d e The syllabic consonants [m̩, n̩, ŋ̍, ð̩, l̩] do not occur in names.[in which circumstances? ]
^ a b [tɕ] is phonemically /tj/ , whereas [ɕ] is phonemically /sj/ .
^ Diphthongs with an underlying long vowel always have stød , whereas the ones with an underlying short vowel do not. [eɪ̯, ɛɪ̯, æɪ̯, øɪ̯, æʊ̯, oʊ̯, ɔʊ̯] all have an underlying long vowel, and thus always have stød . Conversely, [ɑɪ̯, ʌɪ̯, uɪ̯, ɑʊ̯, ɒʊ̯] have an underlying short vowel, and thus never have stød . The other diphthongs (including all of the diphthongs ending with [ɐ̯] ) appear both with and without stød (Grønnum (2005 :294)).
^ a b [ɪ] and [ʊ] are assimilatory variants of, respectively, [ɪ̯ə] and [ʊ̯ə] .
Bibliography
Basbøll, Hans (2005), The Phonology of Danish , ISBN 0-203-97876-5
Grønnum, Nina (1998), "Illustrations of the IPA: Danish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 28 (1 & 2): 99–105, doi :10.1017/s0025100300006290
Grønnum, Nina (2005), Fonetik og fonologi, Almen og Dansk (3rd ed.), Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, ISBN 87-500-3865-6