If you hear spoken Swedish and Norwegian, you would find that these languages tend to sound considerably more melodic compared to many of their Germanic counterparts. This difference is predominantly attributed to their 'pitch-accent' feature, where certain stressed syllables tend to come with some form of tone, or more rather, accent. To recap, in Swedish, … Continue reading So, how did Swedish (and Norwegian) gain word accents?
Danish
Putting a ring on it — The å’s diacritic
The letter 'å' (typed using Alt+0229) is perhaps one of the most recognisable letters in the languages of Scandinavia, as you may have recalled the last time you went strolling about in an Ikea store. It is even the entire name of certain places in Norway and Sweden. So too does it represent a unit … Continue reading Putting a ring on it — The å’s diacritic
Word Bites — Different cities, similar names (Helsinki / Helsingfors, Helsingborg, Helsingør)
There are many places in the world that share the same name, or rather similar names. Take the distribution of all the Londons, Parises, and Romes of the world. While the most popular versions are the "originals" found in the UK, France, and Italy respectively, it did not stop the US, Canada, and even Kiribati … Continue reading Word Bites — Different cities, similar names (Helsinki / Helsingfors, Helsingborg, Helsingør)
The Language Closet 