# Norwegian: hv at start of word sounds as k?



## littlepond

Hei! In Episode 7 of the web/TV series "Blank", I notice that words starting with "h" often sound, at least to my ears, as if they were starting with "k". So "hva skjer" sounds like "ka skjer" (at 1:05 here) and "hva er det" sounds like "ka er det" (at 1:16 here). Is it some feature of the pronunciation I have missed so far, or is it indicating some particular region/dialect, or is it simply that my ears are right now out of order? (I also hear their "ikke" as "ishshe"!)

Thanks in advance!


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## Ben Jamin

littlepond said:


> Hei! In Episode 7 of the web/TV series "Blank", I notice that words starting with "h" often sound, at least to my ears, as if they were starting with "k". So "hva skjer" sounds like "ka skjer" (at 1:05 here) and "hva er det" sounds like "ka er det" (at 1:16 here). Is it some feature of the pronunciation I have missed so far, or is it indicating some particular region/dialect, or is it simply that my ears are right now out of order? (I also hear their "ikke" as "ishshe"!)
> 
> Thanks in advance!


Yes, you have heard correct. In many Norwegian dialects "hva" is replaced by "ka", and "ikke" with  "ikkje", where the 'kj' digraph is pronounced like 'ch' in German 'ich', (not 'sh'!).


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## littlepond

^ Thanks a lot. I can start trusting my ears again!


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## raumar

Ben Jamin said:


> "ikkje", where the 'kj' digraph is pronounced like 'ch' in German 'ich', (not 'sh'!).



That's right, but the "kj" sound is losing ground in Norwegian. You sometimes hear young people from Western Norway say "isje" instead of "ikkje".


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## Ben Jamin

raumar said:


> That's right, but the "kj" sound is losing ground in Norwegian. You sometimes hear young people from Western Norway say "isje" instead of "ikkje".


Isn't "losing ground" a little bit of an overstatement? There is still a large majority of Norwegians that use the 'ch' pronunciation.


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## littlepond

Does the "hv" to "k" thing happen only with "hva-" words? Or can it also happen with words such as "hvorfor" (does it become "korfor"?) or "hver" ("ker?")? Also, are there any particular regions where one is more likely to hear "ka" instead of "hva" and "ikkje" instead of "ikke"?


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## Ben Jamin

littlepond said:


> Does the "hv" to "k" thing happen only with "hva-" words? Or can it also happen with words such as "hvorfor" (does it become "korfor"?) or "hver" ("ker?")? Also, are there any particular regions where one is more likely to hear "ka" instead of "hva" and "ikkje" instead of "ikke"?


You can find a good deal of information on this topic here: Norwegian dialects - Wikipedia
And here: kart over norske dialekter - Bing images


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## littlepond

Thanks, Ben Jamin!


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## raumar

littlepond said:


> Does the "hv" to "k" thing happen only with "hva-" words? Or can it also happen with words such as "hvorfor" (does it become "korfor"?) or "hver" ("ker?")? Also, are there any particular regions where one is more likely to hear "ka" instead of "hva" and "ikkje" instead of "ikke"?



Most of the Bokmål "hv"-words are written with "kv" in Nynorsk, for example "kva". But there is no "kv" -- just "k" -- before "o"; Bokmål "hvor" can be either "kor" or "kvar" in Nynorsk. The spoken dialect does not necessarily match the written version of Norwegian. Many dialects in Nynorsk areas in Western Norway use "kva". But "ka" is used in many areas where most people write Bokmål, such as Northern Norway and Bergen. 

"Ikkje" is also written Nynorsk. But again, there are many regions where most people say "ikkje" (or "itj", as in Trøndelag), but write Bokmål and therefore "ikke". 



Ben Jamin said:


> Isn't "losing ground" a little bit of an overstatement? There is still a large majority of Norwegians that use the 'ch' pronunciation.



Yes, that's of course right.


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## littlepond

Thanks, raumar, for more information!


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