All Germanic languages: pronunciation of a vowel preceding one consonant.

[Thomas1]

Hi,

I know that in German a vowel is long when it occurs before a consonant:
Bad long a
Rad long a
kommen short o

It seems to be the case also in Norwegian:

Well, if that word is pronounced with a short 'a', then I guess they're pronounced the same
The two k's signify a short preceding vowel; if there only was one, it'd be pronounced with a long 'a' - which would mean 'roof' or 'ceiling'

Takk - short a
Tak - long a

I've just been thinking is it the case in other Germanic languages?

Thank you for your input.

Tom

 

[Outsider]

That's just a spelling convention. After short vowels, you write two consonants, after long vowels you write one. But you can't predict whether a vowel is long or short from the sound of the consonant which comes after it.

 

[Thomas1]

Well, yes, this is what I was thinking about more or less. So, is it so in all/most Germanic languages or just the ones I mentioned ?

Tom

PS: didn't you mean to write "After short vowels, you write two consonants, after long vowels you write one."?

 

[Outsider]

You're right, I mixed it up. I'll correct my post, to avoid confusing future readers of the thread.

I think that English sort of follows this rule as well, but I've never looked into it very carefully.