Short and long vowels: Norwegian words with A

There are nine vowels in the Norwegian alphabet:

A, E, I, O, U, Y, Æ, Ø, Å

The pronunciation of the vowels in Norwegian can be either short or long. Even though there are some exceptions, the vowel is usually pronounced long if there is one consonant after it and short if there are two consonants after the vowel.

Why is it crucial to distinguish between short and long vowels in Norwegian? The explanation for this is that words with long and short pronunciations have different meanings. 

 

For example:

 

1 bake (bake) – bakke (hill)

Han liker å bake.

He likes to bake.

 

Han springer ned bakken.

He is running down the hill.

 

 

2 bane (lane, sports field) – banne(swear)

Hun springer i første bane. 

She is running in the first lane.

 

Hvorfor banner du?

Why are you swearing?

 

 

3 tak (roof) – takk (thanks)

Vi må reparere taket.

We must repair the roof.

 

Takk skal du ha.

Thank you.

 

 

4 mate (feed) – matte (math)

Hun mater katten.

She is feeding the cat.

 

De liker matte.

They like math. 

 

 

5 later (pretend) – latter (laughter)

Hun later som om hun liker maten.

She pretends as if she likes the food.

 

Kan du høre latteren?

Can you hear the laughter?

 

 

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