The description is OK for the long vowel, i.e. IPA [o:] (back, rounded), distinctly lower than the IPA [u:] in English 'brew, 'glue', but ever so slightly more closed than the [o:] vowel in English 'or', 'oar', 'awe',If this description is accurate
The sound example 'mål' in the link has, to my ears, a curious slight diphthongization that is non-standard, perhaps even personal. I can't place it on the Swedish map."ou" in English "pour", "tour".
Ah! I was wondering whether there wasn't a short å. The article doesn't seem to have any examples of it. (That's the English "aw", more or less, by the way, except probably shorter.)A short å is lower still (IPA "turned c", but not quite as open in Swedish 'sång' as in English 'song'), and regionally (western Sweden) there's a short å which is very open and sometimes mistaken for an /a/ even by other Swedes. Still, the standard long å is [o:].
Who's normal? In English "Received pronunciation", those ou's would be plus "schwa".I don't normally notice a diphthong in the "ou" from English "pour", "tour".
Fair enough. 'Law', 'paw' etc strike my ears as being kinda between our long and short å's, but perhaps closer to the short ones because of their being more open.Ah! I was wondering whether there wasn't a short å. The article doesn't seem to have any examples of it. (That's the English "aw", more or less, by the way, except probably shorter.)
Definitely not ! It's a very clear [o].Who's normal? In English "Received pronunciation", those ou's would be plus "schwa".
Definitely not ! It's a very clear [o].
I checked at the Merriam-Webster online and at Dictionary.com, and none of them had a schwa in "pour". Perhaps you've confused long vowel with vowel + schwa.
No, definitely not. This is how it sounds like.I have seen that a lot of Swedish families who immigrated to Minnesota (where I live) rendered their name "Håkansson" as either Hawkinson (perhaps from its similarity to the English name "Hawkins") or, in some cases, Hockinson. Would the first vowel sound in the English "Hawkins" be a good approximation of the "å" sound in "Håkan"?
The vowel in ''know'' is actually a diphtongue: /oʊ/I'm afraid I don't fully agree with you, Red Arrow. It does not sound anything like the vowel "know" as pronounced in American English. I suppose it's pretty similar to how the Aussies say "thought", but it's actually even closer to Hawkins – that is, the British pronunciation of that name, not the American.
I know how Håkan is pronounced. It is spelled the way it is pronouncedHere you can hear how Håkan is pronounced (Google Translate's robot voices can be misleading).
Yes, I know thatRed Arrow, the å of Håkan is similar to Dutch single o as in Groningen: File:000 Groningen.ogg - Wikimedia Commons
Many people think it is incorrect to leave out the final -n in Standard Dutch.(I am a bit puzzled about that pronunciation, as I usually would hear it without the final -n.)
But I simply do not hear anything remotely similar to the å sound in the American pronunciation of "know", no matter what the International Phonetic Alphabet says.It is very close to the British pronunciation of Hawkins. But the American pronunciation isn't even close in my opinion.
Then how would you explain the long å to an American who might not know how to speak with an Australian or British accent? Of course those two sounds are different, but is there any better alternative? If an American compares mål with mole, he should be able to figure out the right pronunciation.At any rate, it's not a good example.
Is that really true? Seems very strange.This reminds me of how many people in France find it okay to rhyme ''peux'' with ''stable''
AgreedThe best approximation for American English (not perfect, but still far better in my opinion) that I can come up with is the vowel in the letter combination "or". I'm thinking of words such as "gore", "more", "lord".
I've searched for it online but can't find proper sources. I hear it in French songs a lot.Is that really true? Seems very strange.
You mean the French word "stable", right? When pronounced (as sometimes in singing) with two syllables, right?This reminds me of how many people in France find it okay to rhyme ''peux'' with ''stable'',
Depends on the style of speech, emphasis, etc. "J'ai dit le mot DEUX!" and "J'ai dit le mot DE!" can be hard or impossible to distinguish.but Dutch speaking people would never agree with this.
Yes, we see this over and over again in discussions about phonetics. And given that...I guess the similarities between sounds are more subjective than we often think.
Yes.You mean the French word "stable", right? When pronounced (as sometimes in singing) with two syllables, right?
I honestly think all French people use both sounds, but many of them just don't realize this and suppose it is the same.Depends on the style of speech, emphasis, etc. "J'ai dit le mot DEUX!" and "J'ai dit le mot DE!" can be hard or impossible to distinguish.
Beautiful.Nope, that's not how it's pronounced.
It's something like: (IPA /oː/) and it should be like "called" if you pronounce it like an American. To make it easier, try saying "a" but form your mouth as if you were to say "o". That strange "a/o" sound should be "å".
Hope it helps!
robbie
Again, I find myself disagreeing. The British pronunciation of "called" is surely a better match for "å" than the American one.it should be like "called" if you pronounce it like an American.
Agreed.Again, I find myself disagreeing. The British pronunciation of "called" is surely a better match for "å" than the American one.
It's the opposite, actually. Short /ɔ/, long /o:/.From Wikipedia I discovered:
- Short å is pronounced /ɔ/.
- Long å is pronounced /o:/.
No. The å in "gå" is long.Have I sorted the long and short Ås correctly? The rules as I remember them are:
- vowels followed by two consonants = short
- vowels followed by one consonant = long
- vowels at the end of words = short?
Of these three words only håll have a true short å, the å in gård is long (as well as the å in gå and går), while I would say that the å in lång sounds semi-long, it's not possible to draw it out as long as the å in gå(ååå)rd, but it's neither as short as in håll.I'll explain that the short version (gård, håll, lång)