Wikipedia:Landsbybrønden/Vej (pronounciation)

Vej (pronounciation)

How do you pronounce the word vej, is it [vei] or [væi]? And the city of Vejle, how is that pronounced, [veile] or [væile]? Thanks in advance! --Pxos 8. aug 2011, 22:20 (CEST)

I would say something like [vai] and [vaile]. --Dannebrog Spy 8. aug 2011, 23:44 (CEST)

Are there any dialectal variations? A person, who speaks Danish as a second language, told me (many years ago) that it is pronounced with an e, [vei]. On television, I have heard (or tried to hear) it pronounced more like [vai] or [væi]. --Pxos 9. aug 2011, 23:38 (CEST)

I believe it to be possible to find Danes who'd pronounce it [væi], though it's a rather arcaic way of pronouncing it. The common form is ['vai-le], even across most regional dialects, I believe. --Medic (Lindblad) 9. aug 2011, 23:46 (CEST)

Thanks for the answers! Just to be absolutely sure I am right in concluding that no one ever pronounces the words [vei] or [vei-le]? And a follow-up question: the above-mentioned person also told me that the word huske starts with [husk-], not [hysk-] as it probably is pronounced in Norwegian. --Pxos 10. aug 2011, 02:03 (CEST)

You're most welcome. I wouldn't go so far as to say that no-one ever pronounces it differently; however, I have lived in most regions of Denmark and find that [vai] is almost universal. Some dialects use different rythm or even slight alterations to the consonants (as in [wai] rather than [vai]) but I'd say that the [vei] or [væi] variations would usually come across as peculiar anywhere; they're that rare. As for huske, your assumption is korrekt. [hysk] would be more of a Norwegian sound. In danish it'd be [husk] - as in who or indeed boohoo, only with a shorter, more "clipped" vowel. Hope this helps, --Medic (Lindblad) 10. aug 2011, 04:22 (CEST)

An excellent clarification. I am not trying to go through the whole dictionary but as I posed three different questions to the half-Dane, who has already been wrong in the first case it seems, here comes the final question: Danske Bank. I was told that while the letter a is usually pronounced as [æ], the word bank is different however, it's [bank] = ['dænskø bank], like funk. Did my friend get at least two out of three answers correct? --Pxos 10. aug 2011, 17:57 (CEST)

All right, I'll give it a go. It is quite correct that Danske Bank is composed of three different vowel sounds; I'll try to describe them in turn. The first - Dan - is similar to the english man. The second - ske - resembles her, especially when pronounced by an englishman. The third - Bank - is close to, but not exactly the same as, the A in far. Rather, for the musically inclined I believe it to slightly closer to the Fa in do-re-mi-fa-so.... For all these, as with who earlier, the vowel should be shorter, more "clipped", not drawn out in any way. Now, as to whether this means your friend is right or wrong I'll leave it to you guys to decide amongst yourselves ;-)--Medic (Lindblad) 14. aug 2011, 02:54 (CEST)