The alphabet and spelling
Norwegian has 29 letters: the 26 you already know plus æ, ø and å. Here you learn how to say them, how to spell your name on the phone and which letters are written but not pronounced.
We teach Bokmål, the written standard most people in Norway use.
In short: 29 letters, three extra ones at the end (æ, ø, å), and quite a few letters are written but not said: hva, gjøre, hyggelig, godt.
What is this about?
The alphabet is the set of letters we write with, in a fixed order. You need it to spell your name on the phone, look things up in a dictionary or find your name on a list.
The Norwegian alphabet has 29 letters: the usual 26 plus three extra ones at the end, «æ», «ø» and «å». They are separate letters, not decorated a, o and a. Many letters have Norwegian names: H is «haw», J is «yeh». And some letters are written but not said: «hva» (what) sounds like «va», «godt» (good) like «gott», «hyggelig» (nice) like «hyggeli».
English has plenty of silent letters too, so the idea isn't new. But the letter names differ: E is said «eh», I is said «ee». On the phone Norwegians spell with names: «A som i Anna, B som i Bernhard». Practise spelling your own name that way – you'll need it at the doctor's, the bank and NAV.
Rules
- The alphabet: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z æ ø å. Æ, ø and å come last – in dictionaries and on name lists too: Øyvind comes after Zakariassen.
- The three extra letters: æ is close to the a in «bad» (være, lærer), ø is an «e» said with rounded lips, like German ö (søster, kjøre), å is close to the o in «more» (gå, båt).
- On the phone people spell with names: A som i Anna (A as in Anna), B som i Bernhard, Æ som i Ærlig, Ø som i Østen, Å som i Åse.
- Letter names that surprise English speakers: H = «haw», J = «yeh», K = «kaw», R = «air», I = «ee», Y = «ee» said with rounded lips. Er det med i eller y? – Med y. (With i or y? – With y.)
- Silent h before v and j: hva (say «va»), hvor, hvit, hjem (say «yem»), hjelpe.
- Gj- is said like English y: gjøre («yøre»), gjest, gjerne. G before i and y also sounds like y: gi («yee»), gyldig.
- -ig and -lig at the end: the g is silent: viktig («vikti»), hyggelig («hyggeli»), deilig.
- -dt, and d after a vowel: the d is often silent: godt (sounds like «got»), rødt («røtt»), god («goo»), med («meh»).
- -ld and -nd: the d disappears: kald («kall»), land («lann»), holde («holle»).
- Common little words that aren't said as written: jeg («yai»), meg («mai»), og («aw»), det («deh»).
- Email on the phone: @ = krøllalfa, . = punktum, - = bindestrek: ola punktum hansen krøllalfa gmail punktum com.
Typical mistake: English speakers pronounce the h in hva and the g in hyggelig, and they read j as in «jam». In Norwegian j is always like the y in «yes»: ja, jobb, jul.
Examples
- Kan du stave navnet ditt?Can you spell your name?
- Etternavnet mitt staves med Ø, som i Østen.My surname is spelled with Ø, as in Østen.
- Hva heter du, og hvor bor du?What's your name, and where do you live?
- Det var hyggelig å se deg igjen.It was nice to see you again.
- Maten på hytta smakte veldig godt.The food at the cabin tasted really good.
- E-postadressen min er ola punktum hansen krøllalfa gmail punktum com.My email address is [email protected].
- Kan du gjenta det? Linja er dårlig.Can you repeat that? The line is bad.
- Jeg må hjem og hjelpe barna med leksene.I have to go home and help the kids with their homework.