Listen to strange Danish dialects

You probably know that the flat and tiny country of Denmark is filled up with bizarre language sounds. Both Danish language experts and beginners know that it can be a struggle learning the language.

The Danish language is difficult, but do you know how difficult it can be to understand a Dane?

A group in the Department of Scandinavian Studies and Linguistics at the University of Copenhagen has developed a Dialect map, just in case you were wondering how they speak in Kalundborg or Skælskør.

Small country – many dialects

Danish has only five million speakers. But someone from South Jutland and someone from Bornholm can only understand each other with difficulty.

The map consists of numerous examples of different sounds between the many existing dialects in Denmark.

When using the dialect map, you can choose sound examples with a certain dialect or a ‘regional language’. Also, you can just get an overview by looking at the multi-coloured map.

Impress your friends

Why don’t you play with it yourself? Impress your Danish friends and roommates with bizarre facts and sounds that are present in this Nordic country.

Follow the link to the dialect map and see if you can figure out why ”ø” sounds like ”ye”, ”øje” or ”e”. The map is in Danish, of course.

Listen to the different dialects here.

universitypost@adm.ku.dk

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