Dania transcription


Dania is the traditional linguistic transcription system used in Denmark to describe the Danish language. It was invented by Danish linguist Otto Jespersen and published in 1890 in the Dania, Tidsskrift for folkemål og folkeminder magazine from which the system was named.
Jespersen's Dania system differs from the later IPA in particular concerning the Danish vowel letters. There is no official moderation of the standard, and specific phonetic symbols may therefore differ from author to author. Also there are no absolute phonetic references for the standard, and its usage is therefore discouraged by Danish phoneticians and phonologists.

Consonant chart

For mixed voicing, one normally writes mh for final voicelessness and hm for initial voicelessness, with roman-type m for fully voiceless. But there are two ligatures: hw > ƕ and hj > ꜧ. Roman-type b, d etc. are fully voiced, sounds which occur in dialects such as Bornholmsk. Note that roman typeface indicates a modally voiced sound with plosives, a voiceless sound with sonorants and laterals, and a partially voiceless sound with fricatives/approximants.

Vowel chart

A slash separates 'thin/narrow' from 'wide' vowels. A mid dot may be added for length. The comma for stød combines with this to form the 'comma-punkt'.
* Mid ė, ø̇, 0 are weak allophones of e, ø, o.