# Danish: Hvad hedder du?



## AlOlaf

Does stød occur in the word "hedder"? If so, what letter does it fall on?


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## AlOlaf

But "hedde" is the infinitive and "hedder" is the present. I thought it might be similar to "læse" and "læser", infinitive and present, respectively, where the former has no stød, but the latter does.


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## jette(DK)

the infinitiv (hedde) is without 'stød'.

But the present tense ('hedder) and the past tense ('hed) both have 'stød'.

This is something I can hear as a native speaker. I'm not familiar with the rules, I'm afraid.


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## AlOlaf

Thank you so much!


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## Sepia

AlOlaf said:


> But "hedde" is the infinitive and "hedder" is the present. I thought it might be similar to "læse" and "læser", infinitive and present, respectively, where the former has no stød, but the latter does.



OK, but here

læsse, læsser

you are in the same situation as with "hedde". You see the difference? It is the syllables.


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## bicontinental

AlOlaf said:


> But "hedde" is the infinitive and "hedder" is the present. I thought it might be similar to "læse" and "læser", infinitive and present, respectively, where the former has no stød, but the latter does.



That’s exactly right.

As you know, Danish grammar is characterized by many exceptions to a limited number of rules and that goes for those pertaining to the glottal stop (stød) in verbal forms as well. There´s a summary in this Wikipedia note (in Danish) that you may find useful.  http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stød_(sproglyd)

*Generally *the stød occurs in verbal forms with _one syllable_, which of course includes the imperative form of many verbs ( ´løb, ´gø, ´gå, ´spis, ´hent etc.) and in verbs with the prefix be-, er-, for- (be´tale, er´fare, for´klare).
The present tense of _irregular verbs_: ´hedder (hed), ´flyver (fløj), ´lyver (løj), ´finder (fandt) etc.

Bic.


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## AlOlaf

Thanks very much for the confirmation. I have an Assimil textbook that uses a phonetic script to approximate the pronunciation of the Danish dialogues and to show where stød occurs. This script doesn't show stød to occur in "hedder", but I thought I could hear it. I want to get it right, so thanks again for the imformative clarification.


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## bicontinental

Good ear! 
(Forvo is an online pronunciation guide that might also be useful to you.)
Bic.


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## Sepia

It seems to me that you all don't have the same concept of what "stød" means ... to add more meaning to this thread it would probably be useful if you defined what you mean, each one of you.


Furthermore, there are also regional differences, all leading to the point where the following joke makes perfekt sense in Copenhagen but does not really work in Jutland:

- Hvorfor hedder denne bydel "Hedehusene".
- Jah, de huse skulle vel hedde et eller andet.


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## MindBoggle

Stød is glottal stop. English speakers know it already - it occurs in dialects like cockney in words like better (be'er).

In Danish, glottal stop occurs in the national standard (rigsdansk), and in northern dialects, but not in southern.


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## Sepia

... and not very distinct the way people speak around Copenhagen, even though theoretically there. And that is the "Standard Danish" spoken by about 1/4 of the population.


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## Rubjerg

The Danish "stød", I read some time ago in Wikipedia, is usually not realized as a full glottal stop (the way it's found in Cockney, Hawaiian and others), but typically with a 'creaky voice'. I've been trying to observe this, both with myself and others, and tend to agree.

That's speaking for the standard, though. Some dialects on rural Zealand make VERY pronounced glottal stops for støds.


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