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 with ~6M speakers — official in Denmark, Faroe Islands (alongside Faroese), and Greenland (alongside Greenlandic). Sister to Norwegian and Swedish (Scandinavian dialect continuum, mutually intelligible to a large degree, especially in writing). Famous for stød (creaky-voice glottalization) replacing Old Norse pitch accent. Latin orthography since c. 1100.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Danish

Water

vand

/vanˀ/

Fire

ild

/ilˀ/

Sun

sol

/soːˀl/

Moon

måne

/mɔːnə/

Mother

mor

/moɐ̯ˀ/

Father

far

/fɑːˀ/

Eat

spise

/sb̥iːsə/

Drink

drikke

/dʁɛɡ̊ə/

Love

kærlighed

/kʰæɐ̯liheð̠ˀ/

Heart

hjerte

/jæɐ̯d̥ə/

Tree

træ

/tʁɛːˀ/

House

hus

/huːˀs/

Dog

hund

/hunˀ/

Cat

kat

/kʰæd̥/

Hand

hånd

/hɔnˀ/

Eye

øje

/ʌjə/

Hello

hej

/haj/

Thank you

tak

/tʰaɡ̊/

One

en

/eːˀn/

Good

god

/ɡoːˀ/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Germanic languages

Meaning DanishNorwegianNorwegian NynorskMiddle EnglishOld NorseFaroeseOld Frisian
Water vand /vanˀ/ vann /vɑnː/ vatn /vɑːtn/ water /watər/ vatn /vɑtn/ vatn /vahtn/ wetir /vetiɾ/
Fire ild /ilˀ/ ild /ilː/ eld /ɛld/ fyr /fyːr/ eldr /eldr/ eldur /ɛltʊɹ/ fiur /fjuːɾ/
Sun sol /soːˀl/ sol /suːl/ sol /suːl/ sonne /sɔnːə/ sól /soːl/ sól /sɔuːl/ sunne /sunːe/
Moon måne /mɔːnə/ måne /moːnə/ måne /moːnə/ mone /moːnə/ máni /mɑːni/ máni /mɔaːnɪ/ mōna /moːnɑ/
Mother mor /moɐ̯ˀ/ mor /muːr/ mor /muːr/ moder /moːdər/ móðir /moːðir/ móðir /mɔuːɪɹ/ moder /moːdeɾ/
Father far /fɑːˀ/ far /fɑːr/ far /fɑːr/ fader /faːdər/ faðir /fɑðir/ faðir /fɛaːjɪɹ/ feder /fædeɾ/
Eat spise /sb̥iːsə/ spise /spiːsə/ eta /eːtɑ/ eten /eːtən/ eta /etɑ/ eta /eːta/ eta /etɑ/
Drink drikke /dʁɛɡ̊ə/ drikke /drɪkːə/ drikka /drɪkːɑ/ drinken /drɪŋkən/ drekka /drekːɑ/ drekka /tɹɛhka/ drinka /dɾinkɑ/
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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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