# Norwegian - u(skj)



## mezzoforte

When a word ends in "*u*", is it natural to make a small "*skj*" sound after?  Or perhaps a small "*kj*" sound?


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## Vikingo

No, it isn't. Unless you've hurt yourself, and are trying to say "au". An extra "skj" there would communicate to everyone that it wasn't on purpose.


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## mezzoforte

Can you think of two words which are almost identical, except one ends in "u" and the other in either "uskj" or "ukj".

Thx


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## Vikingo

You're gonna have to come up with some kind of rudimentary context here, but say "du" (you) and "dusj" (shower) could fit the bill.


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## mezzoforte

hmmm.... one related question: will "dusj" have a short "u"?  If so, if you say "dusj" with a long "u", and just barely ended with a "sj", would that sound like "du"?

What about "dukj", with a long "u" and barely pronounced the "kj"?


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## cevita

> When a word ends in "u", is it natural to make a small "skj" sound after? Or perhaps a small "kj" sound?


I don't think I understand your question.. 

I have never heard anyone end a sentence with a "skj" or "kj" sound. 
Where did you hear that? (curious)


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## mezzoforte

No, I meant, can you barely pronounce "skj" or "kj" at the end of saying "du".  It's not deliberate, it's just because you might exhale a while longer after you stop voicing the "u", and it could sound like this fricative "skj" or "kj"..... but it's not real, it's just a natural accident.

For instance, English words that end in vowel sound always end in with a "w" or a "y" sound... but it's not real, it's just... what we do.
This makes it hard to learn French, which doesn't allow this.


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## kirsitn

mezzoforte said:


> No, I meant, can you barely pronounce "skj" or "kj" at the end of saying "du".



Not unless you actually want to say "dusj". Why would you want to end the "u" with anything other than a "u"?

Norwegian has the same type of vowel system as French in that a single vowel is always pronounced as a single sound. Diphtongs are always spelled out, unlike in English where you often have a single vowel that's pronounced like a diphtong. (There are a couple of dialects that don't follow this rule, but the majority of the dialects (including Oslo) don't use diphtongs in other words than those that have written diphtongs.)


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## kirsitn

mezzoforte said:


> hmmm.... one related question: will "dusj" have a short "u"?  If so, if you say "dusj" with a long "u", and just barely ended with a "sj", would that sound like "du"?



Yes, dusj has a short u. The lenght of the u in du depends on how you say it. If you're calling out to someone one the street (Hey, you!), it can be rather short, but normally it's medium/long. Saying dusj with a long u just sounds weird and not like du.


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## mezzoforte

Perfect!!!!


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