Danish,
Norwegian (including both written forms:
Bokmål
Bokmål () (, ; ) is one of the official written standards for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is by far the most used written form of Norwegian today, as it is adopted by 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. There is no cou ...
, the most common standard form; and
Nynorsk
Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...
) and
Swedish are all descended from
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
, the common ancestor of all
North Germanic languages
The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...
spoken today. Thus, they are closely related, and largely
mutually intelligible
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between different but related language varieties in which speakers of the different varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. Mutual intellig ...
, particularly in their standard varieties. The largest differences are found in pronunciation and language-specific vocabulary, which may hinder mutual intelligibility to some extent in some dialects. All dialects of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish form a
dialect continuum
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...
within a wider
North Germanic dialect continuum.
Mutual intelligibility
Generally, speakers of the three largest
Scandinavian languages
The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is al ...
(Danish, Norwegian and Swedish) can read each other's languages without great difficulty. The primary obstacles to mutual comprehension are differences in
pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. To
This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or all language in a specific dialect—"correct" or "standard" pronunciation—or si ...
. According to a scientific study of the three groups, Norwegians generally understand the other languages the best, while Swedes understand the least.
[ (Norwegian)]
Danish and Norwegian are especially comprehensible to one another.
In general, Danish and Norwegian speakers will be able to understand the other's language after only a little instruction or exposure.
Traditionally educated Norwegians, and especially speakers of
Urban East Norwegian, understand spoken Danish fluently; indeed Urban East Norwegian is closer to 16th century Danish than modern Danish is due to being closely influenced by the written (Danish) language, which modern spoken Danish has diverged from to a greater degree. However, due to the same reason, present-day Danish speakers generally do not understand spoken Norwegian as well as the extremely similar written norms would lead one to expect. Some Norwegians — especially in northern and western Norway — may also have problems understanding Danish.
Because Norway's largest cities have received signals from
Sweden's two national TV channels since the 1960s through private antennas, Norwegians generally have a better grasp of Swedish than vice versa; Sweden did not receive Norwegian TV until decades later.
Old Norse and Icelandic
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
is a stage of development of
North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
and their
overseas settlements and chronologically coincides with the
Viking Age
The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...
, the
Christianization of Scandinavia
The Christianization of Scandinavia, as well as other Nordic countries and the Baltic countries, took place between the 8th and the 12th centuries. The realms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden established their own Archbishop, archdioceses, responsi ...
and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 8th to the 15th centuries.
The 12th-century
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
ic ''
Gray Goose Laws'' state that
Swedes
Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...
,
Norwegians
Norwegians () are an ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the Norsemen, Norse of the Early ...
,
Icelanders
Icelanders () are an ethnic group and nation who are native to the island country of Iceland. They speak Icelandic, a North Germanic language.
Icelanders established the country of Iceland in mid 930 CE when the (parliament) met for th ...
, and
Danes
Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
History
Early history
Denmark ...
spoke the same language, ("Danish tongue"; speakers of Old East Norse would have said '). Another term was ("northern speech"). Today Old Norse has developed into the modern
North Germanic languages
The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...
Icelandic,
Faroese,
Norwegian,
Danish,
Swedish, and other North Germanic varieties of which Norwegian, Danish and Swedish retain
considerable mutual intelligibility while Icelandic remains the closest to Old Norse.
History of Norwegian
In the
Kingdom of Denmark–Norway (1536–1814), the
official language
An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...
— in the sense of written language — was Danish, not Norwegian. However it came to be seen as a common language of the kingdoms. The urban Norwegian upper class spoke
Dano-Norwegian
Dano-Norwegian (Danish language, Danish and ) was a Koine language, koiné/mixed language that evolved among the urban elite in Norwegian cities during the later years of the union between the Denmark–Norway, Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway (1 ...
, a form of Danish with Norwegian pronunciation and other minor local differences. After the two countries separated, Danish remained the official language of Norway — although it was referred to as Norwegian in Norway — and remained largely unchanged until language reforms in the early 20th century led to the standardization of forms more similar to the Norwegian urban and rural vernaculars. Until 1907 the written language in Norway was more or less completely Danish; in the following decades various spelling reforms gradually made the language somewhat more different from Danish, although the differences are still fairly small. Since 1929, this written standard has been known as ''
Bokmål
Bokmål () (, ; ) is one of the official written standards for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is by far the most used written form of Norwegian today, as it is adopted by 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. There is no cou ...
''. The other Norwegian written standard, ''
Nynorsk
Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...
'', was constructed on the basis of Norwegian dialects. Attempts to bring Bokmål closer to and eventually merge it with Nynorsk have failed due to widespread resistance during the
Norwegian language conflict. As part of this resistance, elites, most of the media and significant parts of the population supported an alternative spelling standard promoted by the
Riksmål
(, also , ) is an unofficial written Norwegian language form or spelling standard, meaning the ''National Language'', closely related and now almost identical to the dominant form of Bokmål, known as .
Both Bokmål and Riksmål evolved from t ...
movement, that built on the Danish language tradition in Norway. The language struggle in Norway also had a class aspect, as the Norwegian educated elites traditionally had a strong affinity for Denmark and its culture, and thus saw the Danish written language as an important part of their identity. Until 1811 the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University.
...
had been the only university of Denmark-Norway, and educated Norwegians thus spent formative years in Denmark. When
Norway's university was founded in 1811 it built on and maintained close ties to a Danish academic tradition, thereby continuing the influence of Danish among elites. The most recent reforms of Bokmål from 2005 have again brought the language closer to the Danish language tradition in Norway by including most of the Riksmål tradition in official Bokmål, thereby largely ending the Norwegian language conflict.
[ (Norwegian)]
Sample text
; Danish:
; Norwegian (moderate Bokmål):
; Norwegian (Nynorsk):
;Swedish:
;English translation: In 1877
Brandes left
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
and took up residence in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. However, his political views made
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
an uncomfortable place to live, and in 1883 he returned to Copenhagen, where he was met by a completely new group of writers and thinkers, who were eager to accept him as their leader. The most important of his later works is his work about
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, which was translated to English by
William Archer and received recognition immediately.
Writing system
Danish and Norwegian
Generally, Norwegian
orthography
An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis.
Most national ...
is more simplified and regularized and closer to actual pronunciation than Danish. As a rule, the graphic differences between the two languages do not reflect actual differences in pronunciation; while there are significant phonetic and
phonological
Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often prefer ...
differences, they are rarely expressed in writing. The few exceptions are noted below.
* In writing, Danish may employ either the letter or the letter to signify the
short vowel
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived or actual duration of a vowel sound when pronounced. Vowels perceived as shorter are often called short vowels and those perceived as longer called long vowels.
On one hand, many languages do not ...
phoneme
A phoneme () is any set of similar Phone (phonetics), speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible Phonetics, phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word fr ...
. Norwegian almost always uses . Example: Danish (to lay), (to send) versus Norwegian , .
* Danish regularly, although not always, uses the letter combinations , instead of the double consonant letters , . In most cases this is not
etymologically
Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
justified. In Norwegian and Swedish, only the etymologically justified spellings occur. Example: Danish (to know,
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
), (this /
common gender/, ON
masculine
Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some beh ...
accusative
In grammar, the accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to receive the direct object of a transitive verb.
In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: "me", "him", "her", " ...
) and (to send, ON ) versus Norwegian () / (), (but ); Danish (bad, ON ), (to want, Old Norse ) and (to hold, Old Norse ) versus Norwegian , (but () / / ()).
* Unlike Norwegian, Danish often uses instead of double . Example: (to scratch) but (certain
lural versus Norwegian , . Likewise in some other contexts, Danish (best), (last) versus Norwegian , (ON , , where denoted consonant combinations like etc.).
* Unlike Norwegian, Danish does not use double consonants at the end of words. Example: Danish can signify both the adjective pronounced (wise) and the adjective pronounced (certain), even though the plural forms of the adjectives, where the consonant occurs medially, are distinguished in writing by means of a double in the second word ( versus ). In contrast, Norwegian does distinguish between and in the same way as between and .
* Danish preserves the above rule both before
inflexional and
derivational endings beginning in a consonant and in ''
compounding
In the field of pharmacy, compounding (performed in compounding pharmacies) is preparation of custom medications to fit unique needs of patients that cannot be met with mass-produced formulations. This may be done, for example, to provide medic ...
''. Norwegian, too, prohibits word-final double consonants before inflexional endings beginning in a consonant (unless
homograph
A homograph (from the , and , ) is a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different meaning. However, some dictionaries insist that the words must also be pronounced differently, while the Oxford English Dictionar ...
y needs to be avoided), but not before derivational endings and in compounding. Example: Danish (all /
common gender/) – (all /
neuter gender
In linguistics, a grammatical gender system is a specific form of a noun class system, where nouns are assigned to gender categories that are often not related to the real-world qualities of the entities denoted by those nouns. In languages wit ...
/) – (all /
plural
In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...
/) – (always, literally "all time"); Norwegian – – , but .
* Norwegian has preserved the spellings , , and in the beginning of words when followed by , , , while modern Danish has simply , and . Today, this in part reflects the fact that these words are also pronounced differently in the two languages, see below. Examples: Danish (keep, hide), (dear), (wonderful, lovely) versus Norwegian (), , .
* A pair of
diphthong
A diphthong ( ), also known as a gliding vowel or a vowel glide, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of ...
s are spelled as and in Danish, but as and in Norwegian. The exact pronunciation of these diphthongs is also somewhat different in the two languages, see below, and the different spellings are phonetically justified at least for the second diphthong. Examples: Danish (way), (lied /
past tense
The past tense is a grammatical tense whose function is to place an action or situation in the past. Examples of verbs in the past tense include the English verbs ''sang'', ''went'' and ''washed''. Most languages have a past tense, with some hav ...
/) versus Norwegian , .
* In the
oblique case
In grammar, an oblique ( abbreviated ; from ) or objective case ( abbr. ) is a nominal case other than the nominative case and, sometimes, the vocative.
A noun or pronoun in the oblique case can generally appear in any role except as subject, ...
forms of the 1st and 2nd person pronouns and of
reflexive pronouns, the ''ei''/''ej'' diphthong is spelled in Danish, but in Norwegian: ''mig'', ''dig'', ''sig'' versus ''meg'', ''deg'', ''seg''.
* In Danish, the preposition ''af'' "of, from" is spelled with (pronounced or, in compounds, ), whereas Norwegian has ''av'' with like Swedish.
* In loanwords, Danish generally has tended to partly preserve the spelling of the source language, whereas Norwegian traditionally usually has adapted the spelling to its own rules in order to reflect the expected pronunciation. Examples: Danish ''bureau'' (bureau), ''chauffør'' (chauffeur), ''information'' (information), ''garage'' (garage), ''centrum'' (centre), ''zone'' (zone) versus Norwegian ''byrå'', ''sjåfør'', ''informasjon'', ''garasje'', ''sentrum'', ''sone''.
* Traditional Danish punctuation requires that a comma be placed before and after every
dependent clause
A dependent clause, also known as a subordinate clause, subclause or embedded clause, is a certain type of clause that juxtaposes an independent clause within a complex sentence. For instance, in the sentence "I know Bette is a dolphin", the claus ...
, and although two recent reforms permit, optionally, the dropping of a comma ''before'' the
dependent clause
A dependent clause, also known as a subordinate clause, subclause or embedded clause, is a certain type of clause that juxtaposes an independent clause within a complex sentence. For instance, in the sentence "I know Bette is a dolphin", the claus ...
, the old system is still in general use.
[ (Danish)] In contrast, Norwegian only requires a comma ''after'' the
dependent clause
A dependent clause, also known as a subordinate clause, subclause or embedded clause, is a certain type of clause that juxtaposes an independent clause within a complex sentence. For instance, in the sentence "I know Bette is a dolphin", the claus ...
; a comma is placed ''before'' it only if the clause is
parenthetic (the same rule as in English, but English also does not put a comma after a non-parenthetic clause).
Swedish uses the same rule as English: a comma is not required before or after a non-parenthetic clause. Example where the dependent clause is parenthetic – (). Example sentence with nonparenthetic clause:
* Danish capitalizes all words in multi-word proper designations, but Norwegian and Swedish only capitalize the first word: ''Det Hvide Hus'' (Danish) – ''Det hvite hus'' (Norwegian Bokmål) – ''Det kvite huset'' (Norwegian Nynorsk) – ''Vita huset'' (Swedish) – the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
(English).
Swedish differences
Swedish orthography differs from Danish and Norwegian in the following respects:
* Danish and Norwegian use the letters and , but Swedish uses and . All the three languages use the letter .
* Danish and Norwegian use , but Swedish uses . Danish might also use a single 'k' finally, even for short vowels.
* Swedish uses the letter in native words, but Danish and Norwegian use instead.
* In Swedish orthography, the etymological was abolished in 1906. Danish and Bokmål Norwegian still use it, although in some Norwegian words it is simplified to (''verv, virvel, veps'' and optionally in ''verken/hverken''). In Nynorsk, it is written following truly Norwegian pronunciation.
* Swedish uses , , before all front vowels like Danish, although pronounces them as palatals unlike Danish.
* Swedish, like Norwegian, mostly spells /kt/ as , whereas Danish uses '.
* Swedish uses the spelling ''och'' (and), whereas Danish and Norwegian use ''og''.
* Use of double consonants in Swedish generally coincides with that in Norwegian, but Norwegian uses , , , , , , , , , , , and Swedish uses , , , , , , , , , , , .
* Swedish uses double consonants before , , , , , , but Norwegian uses single consonants.
* Danish and Norwegian preserve the morphological spelling , but in Swedish it was replaced by (or by after consonants and unstressed vowels) by the 1906 spelling reform.
* The use of the letter in Swedish is much more frequent than the use of in Danish, not to mention Norwegian. In particular, Swedish uses in the combination , which mostly corresponds to in Danish.
* Swedish corresponds to Danish and Norwegian or .
* Some verbs in Swedish have two infinitives: more commonly used short one and more formal long one: ''be/bedja, bli/bliva, ge/giva, ha/hava, ta/taga''. In Norwegian, only short form is used (except ''be/bede''); written Danish has only long form.
* Spelling of loanwords is intermediate between conservative Danish and progressive Norwegian. In particular, various spelling of and sounds are usually retained in Swedish, but replaced in Norwegian.
* Danish and Norwegian use ordinal dot for writing ordinal numbers, but Swedish uses colon and ending: ''5.'' (Danish and Norwegian), ''5:e'' (Swedish). Although ordinal dot in Swedish was formerly used, now it occurs only in military contexts, such as ''5. komp'' (5th company). Dates in Swedish are written without the ordinal suffixes, e. g. ''5 juni''; in Danish and Norwegian the ordinal dot is used: ''5. juni''.
Pronunciation and sound system
The difference in
pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. To
This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or all language in a specific dialect—"correct" or "standard" pronunciation—or si ...
between Norwegian and Danish is much more striking than the difference between Norwegian and
Swedish. Although written Bokmål is very similar to Danish,
[Nynorsk is arguably more similar to Swedish.] spoken Norwegian more closely resembles Swedish.
Danish pronunciation is typically described as 'softer', which in this case refers mostly to the frequent
approximant
Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do prod ...
s corresponding to Norwegian, Swedish and historical
plosive
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases.
The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lip ...
s in some positions in the word (especially the pronunciation of the letters ''b'', ''d'', and ''g''), as well as the
German-like realisation of r as a
uvular or even
pharyngeal approximant
The voiced pharyngeal approximant or fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is ?\. Epiglot ...
in Danish as opposed to the Norwegian
alveolar trill
The voiced alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental consonant, dental, alveolar consonant, alveolar, and postalveolar consonant, postalve ...
s or
uvular trill
The voiced uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a small capital version of the Latin letter r. This consonant is one of ...
s/
fricative
A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in ...
s.
Note that in the following comparison of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish pronunciation, the East Norwegian pronunciation of
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
is taken as the norm. In practice, most Norwegians will speak a local dialect in most contexts; furthermore, Bokmål itself is not a pronunciation standard, and is likely to be pronounced with clearly regional features. The most obvious instances are the uvular (rather than alveolar) pronunciation of and the lack of retroflexes in much of Western Norway, and the pronunciation, in some cases, of a retroflex flap instead of in much of Eastern Norway, including the less "refined" forms of the Oslo dialect. All of this is ignored in the following exposition.
Vowels
Arguably the most acoustically striking differences in vowels are that:
*In Danish, the
grapheme
In linguistics, a grapheme is the smallest functional unit of a writing system.
The word ''grapheme'' is derived from Ancient Greek ('write'), and the suffix ''-eme'' by analogy with ''phoneme'' and other emic units. The study of graphemes ...
''a'' corresponds, in most contexts, to the pronunciation of a
front, often even
open-mid front vowel (), closer to the English short ''a''. In Norwegian and Swedish, ''a'' is invariably an
open
Open or OPEN may refer to:
Music
* Open (band), Australian pop/rock band
* The Open (band), English indie rock band
* ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969
* ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979
* ''Open'' (Go ...
back vowel
A back vowel is any in a class of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the highest point of the tongue is positioned relatively back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be c ...
. Example: Danish ''bane'' versus Norwegian ''bane'' (course, orbit).
*The grapheme ''u'' corresponds to (more or less
close)
''back'' vowels in Danish, but usually to a
close ''central'' vowel () in Norwegian and Swedish. Example: Danish versus Norwegian .
As a whole, Norwegian and Swedish still preserve the old pairs of short and long vowels, as suggested by the writing system, pretty close to each other, even though the long ones are usually closer. Thus, the grapheme ''e'' corresponds to long (Norwegian and Swedish ''sene'' , late
lural and short (Norwegian ''sende'' , to send; Swedish ''hetta'' , heat), while the grapheme ''i'' corresponds to long (Norwegian ''sine'' , Swedish ''sina'' , his/her/its/their own) and short (''sinne'' , anger
orwegianmind
wedish. In Danish, the tendency of differentiation has led to a qualitative overlapping: also here, ''e'' can stand for long (''sene'' , late
lural and for short (''sende'' , to send), but ''i'', besides signifying long (''sine'' , his/her/its/their own), has come to correspond to short (''
ogeninde'' , ever) and, to complicate things further, a short pronunciation is maintained in some cases (''sidste'' , last). Most Danish vowels have also many
segmentally conditioned
allophone
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is one of multiple possible spoken soundsor '' phones''used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, the voiceless plos ...
s, especially more open ones when preceded or followed by .
The following is a table that compares the most common Danish, Norwegian and Swedish pronunciations of a letter (without taking into account the grouping of sounds into phonemes, as well as many sub-rules, exceptions and subtleties). Note that in many cases, even when the same
IPA transcription is used, the sounds may still be somewhat different in the three languages.
:
1) before
labials and
velars
Velar consonants are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (also known as the "velum").
Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively ...
:
2) But before
:
3) before
velars
Velar consonants are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (also known as the "velum").
Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively ...
:
4) But before
:
5) but, in some cases, (notably before ''rt'', ''nd'', and sometimes ''st'')
:
6) in some words before (< older ''ō'')
:
7) almost universally before
:
8) only in ''fyrre'' "40"
:
9) But , when, by exception, not followed by
:
10) before
:
11) before realised as and , long and short respectively.
While the more open realisations of and before are allophonic in Danish, they have acquired
phonemic
A phoneme () is any set of similar speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word from another. All languages con ...
status as and in Norwegian, and the Norwegian letter ''æ'' has come to be used almost only to signify them. The
phonologisation of was mostly a collateral effect of the merger of some other sounds: Danish ''æ'' versus ''e'' and ''sj'' versus ''rs'' have come to be pronounced in the same way in Norwegian (respectively and ), thus rendering the occurrences of unpredictable.
Diphthongs
The Danish diphthongs and (spelled as ''ej'' and ''øj'') correspond to the Norwegian diphthongs (in Oslo pronunciation) and (spelled as ''ei'' and ''øy'') and to Swedish and (spelled as ''ej'' and ''öj''). Besides that, a great many letter combinations are pronounced as diphthongs in Danish, but as usual vowel-consonant combinations in Norwegian and Swedish. That is mostly due to the Danish letters ''g'' and ''v'' (colloquially also ''b'') being pronounced as
semivowel
In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel, glide or semiconsonant is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as the nucleus of a syllable. Examples of semivowels in English are ''y ...
s and after a vowel: thus, ''dag'' (day) is pronounced in Danish, but in Norwegian and Swedish; ''lov'' (law) is pronounced in Danish, but in Norwegian and Swedish. Similarly, and are often spelled as ''eg'' and ''øg'' in Danish (''eg'' may be pronounced in Norwegian, too, e.g. in ''regne'', "to rain"). The Danish pronunciation is therefore, as with ''a'' above, closer to English, while the Norwegian and Swedish is more conservative, closer to its spelling.
*A significant
sound correspondence (rather than simply a difference in pronunciation) is the fact that Danish and Swedish have long monophthongs (''e'' , ''ø'' ) in some words, where Norwegian has restored the
reflexes
In biology, a reflex, or reflex action, is an involuntary, unplanned sequence or action and nearly instantaneous response to a Stimulus (physiology), stimulus.
Reflexes are found with varying levels of complexity in organisms with a nervous s ...
of old Norse diphthongs (''ei'' , ''øy'' and ''au'' ) as alternatives or, sometimes, replacement of the Danish ones. Examples: Danish ''ben'', Swedish ''ben'' (leg, bone) – Norwegian ''ben'' or ''bein''; Danish ''hø'', Swedish ''hö'' (hay) – Norwegian ''høy''; Danish ''høj'', Swedish ''hög'' (hill) – Norwegian ''haug''.
*Another correspondence: Old Norse ''jó'' and ''jú'' became ''ju'' in Swedish but ''y'' in Danish. Norwegian sometimes uses Danish forms, sometimes forms with ''jo'' and ''ju'' as in Old Norse. For example: Old Norse ''ljóss'' – Danish ''lys'' – Norwegian ''lys'' (Bokmål), ''lys'' or ''ljos'' (Nynorsk) – Swedish ''ljus'' (light).
Consonants
The most notable differences are, as already mentioned, the pronunciation of approximants in Danish, corresponding to voiced and voiceless stops in Norwegian and Swedish and of ''r'' as a
uvu-
pharyngeal approximant
Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do prod ...
in Danish, corresponding to an
alveolar trill
The voiced alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental consonant, dental, alveolar consonant, alveolar, and postalveolar consonant, postalve ...
in (East) Norwegian and Swedish (except southern dialects) (''skrige'', "shriek" versus ''skrike'', ''skrika''). Furthermore, Danish has replaced the
voiceless
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...
/
voiced
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced.
The term, however, is used to refe ...
opposition (in versus ) with an
aspirated/nonaspirated one ( versus ), and the contrast between the two is neutralized syllable-finally and before
schwa (in practice, in the core of native words, this means it is lost everywhere except word-initially). Thus, ''begge'' (both) and ''bække'' (brooks) are pronounced alike as . In Norwegian and Swedish, the opposition is still voiced versus voiceless and it is preserved everywhere, with being aspirated in the onset of a stressed syllable (as in English and German).
The Danish is either vocalized or dropped altogether, after having influenced the adjacent vowels, in all positions but word-initially and pre-stress, making the Danish ''r'' very similar to the standard German ''r''. Also, note the Danish pronunciation of initial ''t'' as , similar to the
High German consonant shift
In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift is a phonological development (sound change) that took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic languages, West Germanic dialect continuum. The ...
wherein German changed ''t'' to ''z''/''tz'' (cf. Danish ''tid'', German ''Zeit'').
Meanwhile, syllable-final ''b'', ''v'', ''d'', and ''g'' may be compared to English syllables that end in ''y'', ''w'', and ''th'' (English "say" versus Danish ''sige'', "law" versus ''lov'', "wrath" versus ''vrede'').
Some letter combinations that are pronounced quite differently are:
*''rd'', ''rl'', ''rn'', ''rs'', ''rt'' are pronounced as spelled in Danish (with the dropped), but in the part of Norway using trilled ''r'', they are always or almost always merged into
retroflex
A retroflex () or cacuminal () consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consona ...
consonants (, , , , ), as in Swedish.
*''sj'' is pronounced in Danish, but as in most of Norway and as [] in Swedish.
Some notable sound correspondences are:
*Danish has (spelled ''b''), (spelled ''d''), and (spelled ''g'') after long stressed vowels, where Norwegian and Swedish have restored/preserved the , and from Old Norse. Examples: Danish ''fod'' (foot), ''reb'' (rope), ''syg'' (sick) – Norwegian ''fot'', ''rep'', ''syk''/''sjuk'' – Swedish ''fot'', ''rep'', ''sjuk'' – Old Norse ''fótr'', ''reip'', ''sjúkr''. In a handful of cases, however, Bokmål Norwegian has kept the Danish form (''lege'', doctor, ''tegn'', sign, ''bedre'', better versus Old Norse ''læknari'', ''teikn'', ''betri''). In most of these cases, the Nynorsk equivalents have retained the old consonants (''lækjar'' (variant form), ''teikn'', ''betre'').
*Sometimes Danish has (, spelled ''v'') after originally long stressed vowels, where Norwegian and Swedish have restored/preserved from Old Norse. Example: Danish ''skov'' (forest), ''mave'' (belly) – Norwegian ''skog'', ''mage'' – Swedish ''skog'', ''mage'' – Old Norse ''skógr'', ''magi''. However, in many cases Norwegian has kept the Danish form (''lyve'' "tell a lie" – Old Norse ''ljúga''), and variation is permitted (''mave'', ''lyge'', and even ''ljuge'').
*Danish has , , and (spelled ''g'', ''k'' and ''sk'') in stressed syllable onsets, where Norwegian usually has , and before front vowels (spelled as in Danish before ''i'', ''y'', ''ei'' and ''øy'', and ''gj'', ''kj'' and ''skj'' elsewhere). Examples: Danish ''gemme'' (keep, hide), ''kær'' (dear), ''skønt'' (although), ''gyse'' (shiver), ''kilde'' (source, spring) versus Norwegian ''gjemme'', ''kjær'', ''skjønt'', ''gyse'', ''kilde'' (Bokmål)/''kjelde'' (Bokmål and Nynorsk). Swedish has , and , spelled as in Danish: ''gömma'', ''kär'', ''källa''.
*Additionally, the letter ''g'' is pronounced in Swedish in the final consonant combinations ''-lg'' and ''-rg'', but not in Danish and Norwegian.
*The consonant combinations ''skj'', ''kj'', ''tj'', ''gj'' are pronounced simply as consonant clusters in Danish, but in Norwegian and Swedish they represent single consonants: Norwegian ''skj'' , ''kj, tj'' , ''gj'' ; Swedish ''skj'' , ''kj, tj'' , ''gj'' . The combinations ''dj'' and ''stj'' represent consonant clusters in Danish and Norwegian and the consonants and respectively in Swedish. The combination ''lj'' is pronounced in Norwegian and Swedish, not used in Danish (Norwegian ''ljore'' – Danish ''lyre'', "hole in the roof"; Swedish ''ljus'' – Danish and Norwegian ''lys''
ynorsk also ''ljos'' "light"). On the other hand, ''hj'' is pronounced in all the three languages.
*The consonant combinations ''nd'' and ''ld'' are pronounced the same as ''nn'' and ''ll'' in Danish and Norwegian. In Swedish, they are pronounced as written.
Prosody
In Norwegian and Swedish, each
stressed syllable must contain, phonetically, either a long vowel or a
long (geminate) consonant (e.g. ''male'' , "to paint" versus ''malle'' , "catfish") . In Danish, there are no phonologically long consonants, so the opposition is between long and short vowels ( versus ).
All the three languages have a
prosodic
In linguistics, prosody () is the study of elements of speech, including intonation (linguistics), intonation, stress (linguistics), stress, Rhythm (linguistics), rhythm and loudness, that occur simultaneously with individual phonetic segments: v ...
opposition between two "accents", derived from syllable count in Old Norse and determined partly phonologically, partly morphologically and partly lexically. However, the exact nature of this prosodic contrast is very different. In Norwegian and Swedish, the contrast is between two
tonal accents, accent 1 and 2, which characterise a whole word with primary stress; in Danish, it is between the presence and the absence of the
stød
Stød (, also occasionally spelled stod in English) is a suprasegmental unit of Danish phonology (represented in non-standard IPA as ), which in its most common form is a kind of creaky voice (laryngealization), but it may also be realized as a gl ...
(a kind of
laryngealisation), which characterises a syllable (though usually a syllable that bears at least
secondary stress). Example: Danish ''løber'' "runner" versus ''løber'' "runs" , Norwegian ''løper''
2 versus ''løper''
1 , Swedish ''löpare''
2 versus ''löper''
1 . Note Danish ''landsmand'' "compatriot" (one word, two støds) as opposed to Norwegian ''landsmann'' and Swedish ''landsman'' (one word, one accent).
''Note: The pronunciation of the tone accents varies widely between Norwegian dialects; the
IPA tone accent transcriptions above reflect South-East Norwegian pronunciation (found e.g. in Oslo). There is usually also high pitch in the last syllable, but it is not transcribed here, because it belongs to the prosody of the phrase rather than the word.''
Vowels in inflections
Danish, Norwegian and Swedish in inflections (
declension
In linguistics, declension (verb: ''to decline'') is the changing of the form of a word, generally to express its syntactic function in the sentence by way of an inflection. Declension may apply to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and det ...
,
conjugation
Conjugation or conjugate may refer to:
Linguistics
*Grammatical conjugation, the modification of a verb from its basic form
*Emotive conjugation or Russell's conjugation, the use of loaded language
Mathematics
*Complex conjugation, the change o ...
) attach, albeit to a limited extent, endings. These endings are always unstressed and contain only short vowels. The use of vowels in these endings depends on the degree of reduction, which is highest in Danish. It allows only reduced
in endings, pronounced as � Bokmål most often has reduced in endings, less often also . Nynorsk uses more often, other vowels less often. Swedish has the lowest reduction rate. It allows most vowels in endings, while the basic vowel in inflections is .
Examples:
Rendering of Graeco-Latin ''ae'' (αι) and ''oe'' (οι)
While Danish renders Graeco-Latin ''ae'' (αι) as ''æ'' (with some exceptions: ''Etiopien, Ægypten/Egypten''), Norwegian and Swedish mostly use ''e''. For example, Danish ''ækvivalent'' — Norwegian and Swedish ''ekvivalent'' (equivalent). In Norwegian, ''æ'' is kept before ''r'': ''æra, kimære, sfære''; Swedish has ''chimär, sfär'' but ''era''. "Caesar" is spelled ''Cæsar'' in Danish and Norwegian; Swedish uses unligatured spelling ''Caesar'', pronounced as if spelled *''Cesar''.
Graeco-Latin ''oe'' (οι) is rendered as ''ø'' in Danish and Norwegian, but as ''e'' in Swedish: Danish and Norwegian ''økologi'' — Swedish ''ekologi'' (ecology).
Grammatical differences
Nominal morphology
Gender
Danish and Swedish have two grammatical gender
In linguistics, a grammatical gender system is a specific form of a noun class system, where nouns are assigned to gender categories that are often not related to the real-world qualities of the entities denoted by those nouns. In languages wit ...
s – common
Common may refer to:
As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin.
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Com ...
(indefinite article ''en'' and definite article ''-en'') and neuter (indefinite article ''et'' anish''ett'' wedishand definite article ''-et''). In Norwegian, the system is generally the same, but some common words optionally use special feminine gender declension patterns, which have been preserved from Old Norse in Norwegian dialects and were re-introduced into the written language by the language reforms of the early 20th century. Hence, three genders are recognized – masculine
Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some beh ...
(morphologically identical to Danish common, with indefinite article ''en'' and definite article ''-en''), feminine
Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...
(indefinite article ''ei'' and definite article ''-a'') and neuter (morphologically identical to its Danish counterpart, with indefinite article ''et'' and definite article ''-et'', pronounced ). The likelihood of a feminine as opposed to common form being used depends on the particular word, as well as on style: common gender forms are often more formal or sometimes even bookish, while feminine forms tend to make a more colloquial and sometimes even rustic impression. Both variants are standard in Bokmål, whereas only the three-gender model is accepted in Nynorsk. Examples: Danish ''en mand'' – ''manden'' ("a man – the man"), ''en sol'' – ''solen'' ("a sun – the sun"), ''et hus'' – ''huset'' ("a house – the house") versus Norwegian ''en mann'' – ''mannen'' ("a man – the man"), ''ei sol'' – ''sola'' or ''en sol'' – ''solen'' ("a sun – the sun"), ''et hus'' – ''huset'' ("a house – the house").
The Norwegian feminine can also be expressed in the indefinite singular declension of the word ''liten'', which has a special feminine form ''lita'' beside the neuter ''lite''. Danish has only ''lille'', which is the definite singular form in both languages.
Number
In Danish, the plural endings are ''-er'', ''-e'' or zero-ending. The choice of ending is difficult to predict (although ''-er'' is especially common in polysyllables, loanwords and words ending in unstressed ''e''; ''-e'' is most usual in monosyllables; and zero-ending is most usual in neuter monosyllables). In Norwegian, the plural suffix -e is used too, but the system is rather regularized, since it is only nouns ending with -er in uninflected form that get -e in indefinite plural form, and this is current for both masculine, feminine and neuter nouns; ''en skyskraper – skyskrapere'' "a skyscraper – skyscrapers"; ''en hamburger – hamburgere'' "a hamburger – hamburgers"; et monster – monstre "a monster – monsters"; ''et senter – sentre'' "a center – centers". The ending ''-er'' (''-ar'' in Nynorsk) is dominant in masculine/feminine nouns and some neuters with several syllables, while zero-ending is prevalent in neuter gender monosyllables. Examples: Danish ''en appelsin – appelsiner'', ''en hund – hunde'', ''et hus – huse'', ''et fald – fald'', versus Norwegian ''en appelsin – appelsiner'', ''en hund – hunder'', ''et hus – hus'', ''et fall – fall'' (singular and plural forms of "orange", "dog", "house" and "fall"). Swedish has five plural endings: ''-er, -or, -ar, -n'' and the zero ending (see the tables above and below).
In addition, the formation of the definite plural forms are somewhat different in the three languages. In Danish, plural forms in ''-er'' transform into definite plural ''-erne'', while plurals in ''-e'' and zero-ending become ''-ene''. Norwegian has generalized ''-ene'' (''-ane'' in Nynorsk) for nearly all masculine and feminine words, and an ''-ene'' or ''-a'' for neuter words. A few masculine words also have an alternative ending ''-a'', derived from ''-a(ne)''/''-æne'' in the spoken language (''en feil – feila/feilene'', "a mistake/error – the mistakes/errors"). Examples: Danish ''en sag – sager – sagerne'', ''en dag – dage – dagene'', ''et fald – fald – faldene'', ''et ben – ben – benene'' versus Norwegian ''en sak – saker – sakene'', ''en dag – dager – dagene'', ''et fall – fall – fallene'', ''et be(i)n – be(i)n – be(i)na/be(i)nene'' (singular, plural, and plural definite forms of "thing", "day", "fall" and "bone"/"leg"). Swedish adds ''-na'' to ''-er, -or, -ar''; ''-a'' to ''-n''; ''-en'' to zero ending.
Definiteness
In the three languages, single nouns use a postpositive definite article. However, in Danish, when a noun is modified by an adjective, a prepositive definite article is used instead of the postpositive one. Norwegian and Swedish both add a prepositive article and keep the postpositive. Example: Danish ''hus – huset'', ''et stort hus – det store hus'' versus Norwegian ''hus – huset'', ''et stort hus – det store huset'' and Swedish ''hus – huset'', ''ett stort hus — det stora huset'' (indefinite and definite forms of "a/the house" and "a/the big house"). In proper designations, Swedish only keeps the postpositive article, and Bokmål does not add it: ''Det Hvide Hus'' (Danish) – ''Det hvite hus'' (Norwegian Bokmål) – ''Det kvite huset'' (Norwegian Nynorsk) – ''Vita huset'' (Swedish) (the White House).
The same difference applies when a demonstrative pronoun
Demonstratives ( abbreviated ) are words, such as ''this'' and ''that'', used to indicate which entities are being referred to and to distinguish those entities from others. They are typically deictic, their meaning depending on a particular fram ...
is used: Danish ''Jeg elsker den mand'' versus Norwegian ''Jeg elsker den mannen'' and Swedish ''Jag älskar den mannen'' (''I love that man'').
Adjectives
The declension of adjectives is basically the same in the three languages. Most of them form two forms in a single number: for the common gender (in Norwegian masculine and feminine) and for the neuter gender. In the plural, both genders have one form, which is at the same time a definite form, which is connected with nouns with a definite article.
In neuter forms, Swedish consistently appends the suffix -t (-tt) - except for the inflected adjectives of type bra (good). In Danish and even more often in Norwegian (especially Nynorsk) for some adjectives -t are not added:
''svensk'' (Danish, Norwegian) - ''svenskt'' (Swedish) = Swedish
''billigt'' (Danish, Swedish) - ''billig'' (Bokmål) - ''billeg'' (Nynorsk) = cheap
In Swedish, the spelling simplifies the group ''-dt'' (in neuter forms) to ''-tt'': ''god'' / ''godt'' (Danish, Norwegian) - ''god'' / ''gott'' (Swedish) = good.
Definite and plural forms have the suffix ''-e'' in Danish and Norwegian, while ''-a'' in Swedish:
''svenske søer'' (Danish) - ''svenske sjøer'' (Bokmål) - ''svenske sjøar'' (Nynorsk) - ''svenska sjöar'' (Swedish) = Swedish lakes
''det gamle hus'' (Danish) - ''det gamle huset'' (nor.) - ''det gamla huset'' (Swedish) = (the) old house
In Swedish, definite forms of the original masculine gender with the ending ''-e'' are also possible in a singular number (only for male people): ''den gamle / gamla mannen'' = (the) old man.
Pronouns
*To denote second person plural, Danish uses ''I'' ( oblique form ''jer'', possessive pronoun
A possessive or ktetic form ( abbreviated or ; from ; ) is a word or grammatical construction indicating a relationship of possession in a broad sense. This can include strict ownership, or a number of other types of relation to a greater or le ...
''jeres''), while Norwegian uses ''dere'' (oblique ''dere'', possessive ''deres''). Swedish uses ''ni'' (oblique and possessive ''er''); the variant ''I'' (oblique ''eder'', possessive ''eder'' or ''eders'') is obsolete.
*The 1st person plural possessive pronoun ("our") is ''vores'' ( uninflected) in modern Danish, but ''vår'' (inflected
In linguistic Morphology (linguistics), morphology, inflection (less commonly, inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical category, grammatical categories such as grammatical tense, ...
: neuter ''vårt'', plural ''våre'' orwegianor ''våra'' wedish in Norwegian and Swedish. Example: Danish ''vores ven/hus/venner'' versus Norwegian ''vår venn''/''vårt hus''/''våre venner'' or, like in the spoken language, ''vennen vår''/''huset vårt''/''vennene våre'' ("our friend/house/friends"). In Danish, the original inflected
In linguistic Morphology (linguistics), morphology, inflection (less commonly, inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical category, grammatical categories such as grammatical tense, ...
variant ''vor'' (''vort'', ''vore'') occurs only in more solemn or archaic style.
*The possessive pronouns always precede what they are modifying in Danish and Swedish; in Norwegian, they may also be placed ''after'' a definite noun or noun phrase. The choice of construction in Norwegian depends on the particular word and on style (the Danish-like construction is more formal or emphatic, the other one is more colloquial). Example: Danish ''min ven'', ''min nye ven'' — Swedish ''min vän'', ''min nya vän'' — Norwegian ''vennen min'' or ''min venn'', ''den nye vennen min'' or ''min nye venn'' ("my friend", "my new friend"). Nynorsk does not allow the Danish construction, which in Bokmål was inherited from Danish.
*The reflexive possessive pronoun
A possessive or ktetic form ( abbreviated or ; from ; ) is a word or grammatical construction indicating a relationship of possession in a broad sense. This can include strict ownership, or a number of other types of relation to a greater or le ...
''sin'' ("his/her/its own") can't refer to a plural subject in Danish, but it can do so in Norwegian and Swedish. Example: Danish ''Han vasker sine klæder'' like Norwegian ''Han vasker klærne sine'' and Swedish ''Han vasker sina kläder'' ("He is washing his wnclothes"); but Danish ''De vasker deres klæder'' versus Norwegian ''De vasker klærne sine'' and Swedish ''De vasker sina kläder'' ("They are washing their wnclothes").
*In Danish, the pronoun that expresses an unspecified, generalized person or group (corresponding to English "one", French "on" and German "man") is ''man'' in its main form, but its oblique form is ''en'' and its genitive form is ''ens''. In Norwegian and Swedish, ''en'' can also be used as a main form. Example: Danish ''man kan ikke gøre det'' versus Norwegian ''man/en kan ikke gjøre det'' and Swedish ''man/en kan inte göra det'' ("one/people can't do that").
*In Danish and Swedish, the pronouns "such" and "so (=in this way)" are usually translated with ''sådan'' (''slig'' anish''slik'' wedishis obsolete and solemn). In Norwegian, the most usual form is ''slik'', but ''sådan'' is also correct (''sånn'' can be somewhat colloquial).
*In Danish, Bokmål and Swedish, the pronouns ''han'' and ''hun'' (Danish and Bokmål)/''hon'' (Swedish) refer to male and female people, but ''den'' and ''det'' are used for other common- and neuter-gender nouns. Nynorsk uses ''han'' for masculine nouns, ''ho'' for feminine nouns, ''det'' for neuter nouns.
*In Danish and Norwegian, the pronoun ''de'' (they) is pronounced iː but in Swedish its usual pronunciation is ɔmː the same pronunciation is used for its oblique case ''dem'', which in Danish and Norwegian is pronounced according to the spelling.
Numerals
There are significant differences between the numeral systems of Danish and Norwegian.
*In Danish, the number 7 is called ''syv''. In Norwegian, it is called ''sju'' (although the 2005 language reform re-introduced ''syv'' as an alternative to ''sju'').
*In Danish, 20 and 30 are called ''tyve'' and ''tredive''. These forms (with ''tredive'' shortened to ''tredve'') were replaced in Norwegian in 1951 by the native ''tjue'' and ''tretti''. Like ''syv'', which was replaced by ''sju'' at the same time, they still occur in Norwegian. The unofficial Riksmål standard retains the old forms.
*In Danish, the number 40 is called ''fyrre''. In Norwegian, it is ''førti'', although ''førr'' is permitted in riksmål
(, also , ) is an unofficial written Norwegian language form or spelling standard, meaning the ''National Language'', closely related and now almost identical to the dominant form of Bokmål, known as .
Both Bokmål and Riksmål evolved from t ...
.
*In Danish, the tens between 50 and 90 have different roots from the ones in most Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoke ...
. Etymologically, like French numerals for 70, 80 and 90, they are based on a vigesimal
A vigesimal ( ) or base-20 (base-score) numeral system is based on 20 (number), twenty (in the same way in which the decimal, decimal numeral system is based on 10 (number), ten). ''wikt:vigesimal#English, Vigesimal'' is derived from the Latin a ...
system; in other words, the name of the number is based on how many times 20 it is. Thus, 60 is ''tres'' (short for ''tresindstyve'', "3 times 20") and 50 is ''halvtreds'' (short for ''halvtredsindstyve'', "2.5 times 20" or more literally "half-third times 20"). Similarly, 70 is ''halvfjerds'', 80 is ''firs'', and 90 is ''halvfems''. In Norwegian, these numbers are constructed much like in English and German, as compound word
In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or Sign language, sign) that consists of more than one Word stem, stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. C ...
s of the respective unit and an old word for "ten": 50 = ''femti'', 60 = ''seksti'', 70 = ''sytti'' , 80 = ''åtti'', 90 = ''nitti''.
*In Danish, units are placed before tens (as in German and Early Modern English
Early Modern English (sometimes abbreviated EModEFor example, or EMnE) or Early New English (ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transit ...
); in Norwegian, the reverse applies (as in Modern English), although the Danish order is also used by some speakers. Example: Danish ''enogtyve'' ("one-and-twenty") versus Norwegian ''tjueen'' ("twenty-one") or ''enogtyve''.
*With regard to ordinal numbers
In set theory, an ordinal number, or ordinal, is a generalization of ordinal numerals (first, second, th, etc.) aimed to extend enumeration to infinite sets.
A finite set can be enumerated by successively labeling each element with the leas ...
, "second" has pretty much the same form in the two languages: ''anden'' (neuter ''andet'', plural ''andre'') in Danish and ''annen'' (neuter ''annet'', plural ''andre'') in Norwegian. However, Danish does not have a definite form but says ''den anden'', whereas Norwegian uses ''den andre''.
Swedish numerals are similar to Norwegian ones: ''sju'' (7), ''tjugo'' (20), ''trettio'' (30), ''fyrtio'' (40), ''femtio'' (50), ''sextio'' (60), ''sjuttio'' (70), ''åttio'' (80), ''nittio'' (90), ''tjugoen'' (21), ''andra'' (the second).
Verbal morphology
*Danish regular verbs can be divided in those that form their past tense and past participle with the suffixes ''-ede'' and ''-et'' , respectively, (e.g. "to throw", ''kaste – kastede – kastet'') and those that form them with the suffixes ''-te'' and ''-t'' (e.g. "to read", ''læse – læste – læst''). Although the group in ''-ede'', ''-et'' is the largest one, the choice between these two conjugation patterns is mostly unpredictable. The corresponding Norwegian groups use ''-et'', ''-et'' (''kaste – kastet – kastet''), and ''-te'', ''-t'' (''lese – leste – lest''). However, unlike Danish, the choice of conjugation has come to be governed by a rule (with a few exceptions): verb stems containing a short vowel, followed by a long consonant or a consonant cluster
In linguistics, a consonant cluster, consonant sequence or consonant compound is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word ''splits''. In the education fie ...
(as in ''ramme''), use ''-et'', and verb stems containing a long vowel, followed by a short consonant (as in ''male''), use ''-te'' (Danish ''ramme – ramte – ramt'' versus Norwegian ''ramme – rammet – rammet'' "to hit"; Danish ''male – malede – malet'' versus Norwegian ''male – malte – malt'' "to paint"). In addition, verb stems ending in a stressed vowel form a third group with no parallel in Danish, using the endings ''-dde'', ''-dd'' ("to live omewhere – ''bo – bodde – bodd''). The corresponding Danish verbs nearly always use ''-ede'', ''-et'' (''bo – boede – boet''). Swedish uses the endings ''-ade, -ad'', ''-de, -d'' and ''-dde, -dd'', where ''d'' or ''dd'' is replaced by ''t'' or ''tt'' in the neuter.
:Bokmål has also introduced the optional use of the ending ''-a'' (taken from Norwegian dialects and used as the only allowed form in Nynorsk) instead of ''-et'': thus, ''kaste – kasta – kasta'', ''ramme – ramma – ramma'', etc. The use of forms in ''-a'' is more common in speech than in writing. Nynorsk also allows infinitive ending in ''-a'': ''kaste/kasta – kasta – kasta''. Swedish also ends infinitives in ''-a''.
*Some Danish irregular verbs have longer forms, ending in unstressed ''-de'', ''-ge'' and ''-ve'', which have been dropped in Norwegian. In many cases, the Danish verbs may also be pronounced in the contracted way. Examples: Danish ''lade – lod – ladet'', ''sige – sagde – sagt'', ''blive – blev – blevet'' versus Norwegian ''la – lot – latt'', ''si – sa – sagt'', ''bli – ble(i) – blitt'' ("let", "say", "become"). Other examples are ''tage – tog – taget'' versus ''ta – tok – tatt'' ("to take"), ''have – havde – haft'' versus ''ha – hadde – hatt'' ("to have"), etc.. The same reduction exists in some verbs in Swedish (e. g. ''bli – blev – bliven'' esides the formal infinitive ''bliva''.
*The perfect forms in Danish may be formed either with the auxiliary verb
An auxiliary verb ( abbreviated ) is a verb that adds functional or grammatical meaning to the clause in which it occurs, so as to express tense, aspect, modality, voice, emphasis, etc. Auxiliary verbs usually accompany an infinitive verb or ...
''have'' "to have" (as in English) or with ''være'' "to be". Some verbs always use ''være'' (''ske'' "happen", ''holde op'' "stop"), while others can use both auxiliaries, but with slightly different meanings: ''han har rejst'' "he has travelled (spent some time travelling)" emphasizes the action itself, while ''han er rejst'' "he has left (so he isn't here now)" emphasizes the result of the action. In Norwegian and Swedish, ''ha'' "to have" may be – and increasingly is – used in all cases, and no specific verbs require ''være/vara'': ''han er død'' (Danish) - ''han har dødd'' (Bokmål) - ''han har døydd / døytt'' (Nynorsk) - ''han har dött'' (Swedish) = he has died.
*Danish and Norwegian use the past participle in perfect tenses, but Swedish uses a different form, the supine
In grammar, a supine is a form of verbal noun used in some languages. The term is most often used for Latin, where it is one of the four principal parts of a verb. The word refers to a position of lying on one's back (as opposed to ' prone', l ...
. For weak verbs, it is identical to the neuter gender of the participle, but for strong verbs, the neuter of the participle ends in ''-et'' but the supine ends in ''-it''.
*The past participle in Swedish is consistently inflected as an adjective. The participle of most verbs has three clearly distinguished forms (two in the singular for the common and neuter gender; one for both genders in the plural, which is also a definite form). The participle must agree with the noun in the gender and the number, whether placed before the noun or after another verb:
''Biljetterna blev köpta och betalade''. = Tickets have been bought and paid for.
In Danish and Bokmål, declension of participles is simplified. From most verbs, only a definite and indefinite form is formed, without distinction of gender. For strong verbs, some Danish verbs have preserved a form in a common gender with the ending ''-en'' (as in Swedish). If the participle comes after a verb, grammatical agreement does not apply in both languages:
''Billeterne blev købt og betalt''. (Danish) - ''Billettene ble kjøpt og betalt''. (Bokmål) = Tickets have been bought and paid for.
In Nynorsk, as in Swedish, most participles are inflected, but some are indeclined (for example, the forms na -a: ''elska'' - see the table below). Grammatical agreement in the sentence is mandatory only for strong verbs, for weak verbs it is applied optionally and for some verbs it is not applied at all.
The present participles in all Scandinavian languages are indeclinable.
*S-forms of verbs, i. e. forms ending in -s (in Nynorsk -st), have three uses in all Scandinavian languages:
**deponent verbs - verbs in passive form with active meaning;
**reciprocal verbs - verbs expressing reciprocity;
**passive voice, the so-called s-passive.
Deponent and reciprocal verbs are common to all languages. However, the use of s-forms is different. In Swedish, the passive voice is commonly expressed in this way (although the s-passive is more formal than the analytical passive). The suffix ''-s'' can be appended to any verb form (including supine) except for participles. In Danish and Norwegian, the s-passive is of limited use. In Danish and Bokmål, only the passive forms of the infinitive and the present tense are more commonly formed in this way. In Nynorsk, the ending ''-st'' can only be added to the infinitive that follows the modal verb, e.g.: ''Ingenting kunne gjørast''. = There was nothing that could be done. Otherwise, the passive must be expressed analytically, or avoided altogether.
*Some examples of verbs in the three languages:
Miscellaneous
Certain words present in all the three languages are used differently in each. This can result in identical sentences meaning different things in the three languages, or in constructions that make sense in one language becoming nonsensical in another one.
Examples include:
*''må/kan'' – The word "må" usually means "must" in Norwegian, but can mean "may", "can", or "must" in Danish. Swedish uses ''kan'' for "can", ''måste'' for "must", and ''får'' or ''må'' for "may".
*''der/som'' – Danish has both words for "which", although ''der'' is only used as the grammatical subject. In Norwegian, ''der'' is only used archaically or poetically. Swedish uses ''som'', and ''vilken, vilket, vilka''.
*''nogle/nogen'' – in written Danish the counterparts of the English words "some" (in a plural sense) and "any" are spelled ''nogle'' and ''nogen'', respectively – although in speech, ''nogle'' is pronounced just like ''nogen''. In contrast, in Norwegian both are spelled identically, as ''noen'' (from Danish ''nogen''). Swedish uses ''någon, några, en del'', or ''somliga''.
*''kun/bare'' – in Danish, ''kun'' means roughly "only, solely" (referring to quantity or number) and ''bare'' "just, merely". ''Kun'' is used more often in Denmark, whereas ''bare'' is used more often in Norway. While there are rules in Danish that govern when to choose which word, in Norwegian ''bare'' may be – and usually is – used with both meanings. Swedish uses ''bara'', ''endast'' or ''enkom''.
*''meget/mye'' – in Norwegian, the adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a determiner, a clause, a preposition, or a sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, or level of certainty by ...
''meget'' (alternatively ''veldig'' etc.) modifies adjectives just like English "very", while ''mye'' is used like English "much, a lot". In Danish, ''meget'' is used in both cases. Swedish typically uses ''mycket'' or ''väldigt'' for "very", and ''mycket'' for "much".
*''enda/ennå (ennu)'' – in Norwegian, ''ennå'' means "still, yet" in a temporal sense, but ''enda'', which normally means "yet, nevertheless" among other things, is used in conjunction with comparative forms in expressions such as ''enda bedre'', "better still". In Danish, ''endnu'' (the equivalent of ''ennå'') is used in both cases. Swedish uses ''än'', ''ännu'' for "yet", "still" while ''ände'' or ''ända'' means "the end" (much like ''slut'' does).
*The primary difference in preposition usage in the Danish and Norwegian languages is the use of ''i ''/ ''på'', (in English in / on). Although the two are generally used similarly in both languages, in certain cases the two languages choose a different preposition for the same construction. For example, "a quarter to five" would be ''kvart i fem'' in Danish, but ''kvart på fem'' in Norwegian. To express a period of time during which something has happened, Danish always uses ''i'', but Norwegian uses ''i'' in affirmative and ''på'' in negative sentences: Danish ''jeg har (ikke) set ham i to år'' versus Norwegian ''jeg har sett ham i to år'', ''jeg har ikke sett ham på to år'' ("I have otseen him for two years"). Swedish uses forms like ''kvart'' ''i'' ''fem'', and ''... sett honom'' ''i'' ''två års tid'', but ... ''inte'' ''sett honom'' ''på'' ''två år''.
*''genitive constructions'' – unlike Danish, Norwegian very often uses the preposition ''til'' ("to") as a more informal alternative of genitive
In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
constructions: ''boka til Peter'', or ''Peters bok'' versus Danish ''Peters bog''. Norwegian also uses a construction
Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...
with the reflexive pronoun
A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that refers to another noun or pronoun (its antecedent) within the same sentence.
In the English language specifically, a reflexive pronoun will end in ''-self'' or ''-selves'', and refer to a previously n ...
, ''Peter sin bok'', (Lit. ''Peter his book''). This is in Norwegian bokmål called "garpegenitiv" and is (in bokmål) still considered substandard by some. Swedish is like Danish in this regard, except in some rural dialects.
Vocabulary
Geographical names
Names of countries
Danish has adopted many German (particularly from Low German
Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...
variants spoken by the Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...
) words and grammatical structures, while Bokmål has rejected some of these imports. An example is the naming of countries; Danish and Swedish generally use the German names of countries, or at least the German ending.
These names were used in Norwegian as well, but have in modern times (during the second half of the 20th century) to a large extent been replaced by the Latin endings; this means that the usual ending is ''-a'' in Norwegian and ''-en'' or ''-et'' in Danish (the ''-en'' and ''-et'' endings are also the definite articles). In the case of Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, which is known in written Danish and Swedish by its German name ''Schweiz'', this is transliterated in Norwegian as ''Sveits''.
As a result, ''Australien'', ''Italien'' and ''Spanien'' are used in Danish and Swedish, but as ''Australia'', ''Italia'' and ''Spania'' in Bokmål, although the earlier forms can be heard in speakers of more conservative forms (for instance Queen Sonja of Norway
Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen; 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway as the wife of King Harald V.
Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relationship a secret due to the ...
). Similarly, while ''Mongolia'' and ''Slovakia'' are now used in Norwegian, ''Mongoliet'' and ''Slovakiet''/''Slovakien'' are still used in Danish and Swedish.
In Danish, Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
is referred to as ''Letland'', similar to German ''Lettland'' (which is used in Swedish), whereas in Norwegian, it is referred to as ''Latvia'' (although ''Letland'' and ''Lettland'' were previously used), but Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
and Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
are referred to in the three languages as ''Estland'' and ''Litauen'', as in German.
Other differences include the use in Norwegian of the native names of countries. In Danish, Greece is referred to as ''Grækenland'' and in Swedish as ''Grekland'', but in Norwegian, it is mostly referred to as ''Hellas'' (the Greek form of the name), even though the Danish-like ''Grekenland'' is sometimes used. Similarly, the name for Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
in Norwegian is the Greek-derived ''Kypros'', rather than the ''Cypern'' (influenced by the German ''Zypern'') used in Danish and Swedish.
Nevertheless, Norwegians usually use ''greker'' (noun) and ''gresk'' (adjective) for "Greek", not ''hellener'' (noun) and ''hellensk'' (adjective); the latter are used only when talking about Ancient Greece, in the sense of ''Hellenic'', as in English and other languages.
In addition, Norwegian speakers, unlike Danish speakers, refer to the Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
as ''Nederland'', as in Dutch, not as ''Holland'', although ''Nederlandene'' is used in Danish in the same formal sense as "The Netherlands" would be in English. In Swedish, the form ''Nederländerna'' is used. Similarly the Dutch language is known as ''nederlandsk'' in Norway and ''nederländska'' in Sweden, but is most often called ''hollandsk'' in Denmark (the Norwegian dictionary ''Bokmålsordboka'' identify both ''Holland'' and ''hollandsk'' as previously commonly used in Norwegian).
By contrast, both Norwegian and Danish speakers refer to New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
by its English name (but ''Ny-Zealand'' is also used in Norwegian), whereas Swedish speakers call the country ''Nya Zeeland''. However, "New Zealand" as an adjective is ''newzealandsk'' or ''nyzealandsk'' in Norwegian, whereas ''newzealandsk'' is encountered in Danish, In Danish, "New Zealander" is ''newzealænder'' while in Norwegian it can be translated as either ''newzealender'' or ''nyzealender''.
Names of cities
There are also differences in the names of cities; each language choosing to use the more native name, or one borrowed from another language. For example:
* Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
in Norwegian, is referred to as ''Helsingfors'', as in Swedish, whereas in Danish it is usually called ''Helsinki'', as in Finnish.
* Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
in Danish, is referred to as ''Bruxelles'', as in French, or sometimes ''Bryssel'' as in Swedish, while in Norwegian it is known as ''Brussel'', as in Dutch (but ''Bruxelles'' was permitted until 1961).
* Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
in Norwegian, however, is known as ''Lisboa'', as in Portuguese language, Portuguese, whereas in Danish and Swedish it is known as ''Lissabon'', as in German. (However, ''Lissabon'' was previously used in Norwegian).
* Prague is known in Danish and Swedish as ''Prag'', as in German, unlike Norwegian, in which the Czech language, Czech name ''Praha'' is used.
* Bucharest likewise, is known in Danish and Swedish as ''Bukarest'', but in Norwegian the Romanian language, Romanian name ''București'' is used.
* Belgrade is known in Danish and Norwegian under the Serbian language, Serbian name ''Beograd'', but in Swedish the form ''Belgrad'' is used.
* Beijing likewise, is known in Danish and Norwegian in the pinyin spelling, but Swedish usually uses the form ''Peking''.
* Moscow and Warsaw however, are known in all the three languages by their respective Russian language, Russian and Polish language, Polish names, ''Moskva'' and ''Warszawa''.Danmarks Ambassade i Warszawa
/ref>
Different words
Here are some examples of common words and expressions that are different in the three languages. Note that the Danish variant usually exists in Norwegian as an archaic or less frequent form (and/or vice versa).
False friends
While most words have the same meaning, there are also a number of false friends. These are often cognates that have diverged in meaning.
The vulgar nature of some of these differences forms the basis of a number of television sketches by Norwegian comedians.[ (Norwegian)]
See also
* Norwegian language conflict
*Dano-Norwegian
Dano-Norwegian (Danish language, Danish and ) was a Koine language, koiné/mixed language that evolved among the urban elite in Norwegian cities during the later years of the union between the Denmark–Norway, Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway (1 ...
* Icelandic
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comparison of Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish
Danish language
Norwegian language
Swedish language
Comparison of Germanic languages and dialects
da:Bokmål#Bokmål og dansk
fr:Norvégien#Le norvégien et les autres langues scandinaves
no:Dansk#Dansk og norsk