Danish: pronunciation ven/ vand

[merquiades]

Hello. I assume you perceive a difference in pronunciation between ven (friend) and vand (water). Could you explain this difference? Vowel length?

 

[Segorian]

I assume you perceive a difference in pronunciation between ven (friend) and vand (water). Could you explain this difference?

To simplify, the difference is that:

• ven is pronounced with the vowel of “Venice” as pronounced in English
• vand is pronounced with the vowel of “van” as pronounced in English

An authentic standard pronunciation also has a “stød” at the end of vand. In most cases, leaving that out makes no difference in terms of understanding, but since you ask about ven it is worth pointing out that the imperative of the verb vende (Vend!) is pronounced exactly the same except for the “stød” at the end.

The “stød” is a major difficulty for those learning Danish pronunciation, but there are dialects where it doesn't exist.

 

[merquiades]

Thank you very much for you detailed answer! 😀 I make a much stronger difference between the "a" of van and the "e" in Venice so I didn't pick up on that. But I do see what you mean and the comment is very useful for making and hearing the distinction.

I had wondered about the "stød" and if it were part of the pronunciation here. I have noticed that there is stød when a final consonant like d or g is silent, but I didn't hear it in "vand" though. I guess with articles "vandet" would have stød whereas "vennen" would not.

 

[Segorian]

I make a much stronger difference between the "a" of van and the "e" in Venice

I was thinking mostly in terms of RP, which is the pronunciation people tried to teach me and where these two vowels ([ɛ] and [æ], roughly) are sounded more or less as in Danish. That said, in recent decades there has been a tendency in RP for the difference between the two to increase, whereas in Danish the opposite development has taken place (or so I'm told). Most Americans probably also distinguish more clearly between them than most speakers of Danish.

My spoken Danish is mediocre, but I listen to the language regularly. I usually don't notice the “stød” unless I make an effort to, and I suspect it's more difficult to hear when it occurs in connection with occlusives such as d or g, given it's own special occlusive character (at least when it is realized as a glottal stop).

 

[bicontinental]

whereas in Danish the opposite development has taken place (or so I'm told).

I agree.

I assume you perceive a difference in pronunciation between ven (friend) and vand (water)

Yes, and Segorian described the differences very well in the comments above. The 'a' in vand is, however, more open than the 'a' in van in AE....it is closer to the 'a' in apple.

Ordnet.dk is an online dictionary with audio pronunciation:

ven — Den Danske Ordbog
vand — Den Danske Ordbog