Dansk

Danish

Germanic

FamilyGermanic Speakers~6M ScriptLatin CountriesDenmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland Official inDenmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland (alongside Greenlandic) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3dan

Also known as: Danish, Dansk

Danish (dansk) is a North Germanic language and the national language of Denmark; it is also widely taught and used for some official purposes in the Faroe Islands and Greenland, whose principal official languages are Faroese and Greenlandic respectively. Together with Norwegian and Swedish, it forms the mainland Scandinavian group, with substantial but uneven mutual intelligibility that is often greater in writing. Standard Danish uses the Latin alphabet with æ, ø, and å, and its official orthography is maintained by the Danish Language Council. Its grammar has verb-second order in main clauses, two grammatical genders, and definite suffixes on nouns. Danish phonology includes extensive vowel contrasts and reduction, while stød is a prosodic feature involving glottalization or voice quality; it is not the same as the separate “soft d” sound.

Where it is spoken

31 core words in Danish

Water

vand

/vanˀ/

Fire

ild

/ilˀ/

Sun

sol

/soːˀl/

Moon

måne

/mɔːnə/

Star

stjerne

/ˈsdjɛɐ̯nə/

Mother

mor

/moɐ̯ˀ/

Father

far

/fɑːˀ/

I

jeg

/jɑ/

You

du

/du/

Name

navn

/nɑwˀn/

Eye

øje

/ʌjə/

Hand

hånd

/hɔnˀ/

Heart

hjerte

/jæɐ̯d̥ə/

Love

kærlighed

/kʰæɐ̯liheð̠ˀ/

Tree

træ

/tʁɛːˀ/

House

hus

/huːˀs/

Dog

hund

/hunˀ/

Cat

kat

/kʰæd̥/

Eat

spise

/sb̥iːsə/

Drink

drikke

/dʁɛɡ̊ə/

One

en

/eːˀn/

Two

to

/tˢoˀ/

Hello

hej

/haj/

Thank you

tak

/tʰaɡ̊/

Good

god

/ɡoːˀ/

Cuckoo

gøg

/ˈɡøˀj/

Woof

vov vov

/vɒu vɒu/

Computer

computer

/kʰʌmˈpʰj̊uːd̥ɐ/

Sushi

sushi

/ˈsuɕi/

Dopamine

dopamin

/dopaˈmiːˀn/

At sign (@)

snabel-a

/ˈsneˀbl̩æˀ/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Germanic languages

Meaning DanishNorwegianNorwegian NynorskSwedishMiddle EnglishLow GermanOld Norse
Water vand /vanˀ/ vann /vɑnː/ vatn /vɑːtn/ vatten /vatːɛn/ water /watər/ Water /vɑːtɐ/ vatn /vɑtn/
Fire ild /ilˀ/ ild /ilː/ eld /ɛld/ eld /ɛld/ fyr /fyːr/ Füer /fyːɐ/ eldr /eldr/
Sun sol /soːˀl/ sol /suːl/ sol /suːl/ sol /suːl/ sonne /sɔnːə/ Sünn /zʏn/ sól /soːl/
Moon måne /mɔːnə/ måne /moːnə/ måne /moːnə/ måne /moːnɛ/ mone /moːnə/ Maan /maːn/ máni /mɑːni/
Star stjerne /ˈsdjɛɐ̯nə/ stjerne /ˈʂæːɳə/ stjerne /ˈʃæːɳə/ stjärna /ˈɧæːɳa/ sterre /ˈstɛrːə/ Steern /steːrn/ stjarna /ˈstjarna/
Mother mor /moɐ̯ˀ/ mor /muːr/ mor /muːr/ mamma /mamːa/ moder /moːdər/ Moder /moːdɐ/ móðir /moːðir/
Father far /fɑːˀ/ far /fɑːr/ far /fɑːr/ pappa /papːa/ fader /faːdər/ Vader /fɑːdɐ/ faðir /fɑðir/
I jeg /jɑ/ jeg /jæɪ/ eg /eːɡ/ jag /jɑːɡ/ I /iː/ ik /ɪk/ ek /ek/
Page 1/4

Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Danish
Jeg vil prøve et jakkesæt som jeg i en butik overfor hotellet
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with closely-related languages

Ek wil 'n pak aanpas wat ek gesien het ‌in 'n winkel oorkant die hotel
Danish
Jeg vil prøve et jakkesæt som jeg i en butik overfor hotellet
Ik wil een pak passen dat ik zag ‌in een winkel tegenover het hotel
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
I wanna try on a suit I seen ‌in a shop across from the hotel

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