Danish speech and language development is shaped by centuries of history, culture, and linguistic features that set it apart from other languages. A North Germanic language with roots in Old Norse, Danish is closely related to Swedish and Norwegian but stands out with characteristics like a large number of vowel sounds and a distinct vocal feature called stød. Stød is a subtle glottal stop that can completely change a word’s meaning. Understanding how Danish develops in children and how it compares to English is essential for speech-language pathologists and educators working with Danish-speaking populations.
Today, about 5.4 million people speak Danish in Denmark. The language is also widely spoken in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both part of the Kingdom of Denmark. In total, around 5.6 million people across the globe use Danish, including small but notable communities in the United States, Canada, Germany, and other countries. Danish immigrants and their descendants have helped maintain the language abroad, and modern interest in Nordic culture continues to support its presence worldwide. With strong institutional support and a standardized writing system that uses the Latin alphabet plus the characters æ, ø, and å, Danish remains a living, evolving language spoken with pride across generations.
In this article, learn about Danish sounds and comparisons to English to improve how you work with Danish on your caseload and in your classroom.
Interesting Facts About Danish Speech and Language Development
- Because Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish descend from the same ancestry, they can be mutually intelligible to some degree.
- “Hygge” is a Danish word you may have heard that means a cozy, comfortable feeling. This cultural concept is a way of life for Danes.
- Danish has nine vowels, three more than English!
- Over 80% of Danes speak English as a second language.
Danish Speech and Language Development
Danish Consonants in Comparison to English
| Danish Consonants Not Shared with English | Aspirated stops: /pʰ, tʰ, kʰ/; voiceless affricates: /ts, tɕ/; palatal fricative /ɕ/; uvular‑pharyngeal /ʁ/; stød‑related glottal variants; t → [ð] intervocalically |
| Consonants Shared With English | /p/, /b/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /h/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /j/, /l/ |
| English Consonants Not Shared with Danish | /d/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ð/ (distinct), /θ/, /ɹ/, /w/ |
Danish Vowels in Comparison to English
| Danish Vowels Not Shared with English | Front rounded: /y, yː, ø, øː, œ, œː, ɶ, ɶː/; back rounded: /ɑ/, /ɑː/, /ɒ/, /ɒː/; central /ɐ/ and /ə/ in unstressed syllables; stød numbered vowel qualities |
| Vowels Shared With English | /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ (approx.) |
| English Vowels Not Shared with Danish | /ɚ/, /ɔ/, /ʌ/, /ʊ/, /ɛ/, /I/, /æ/, /ə/ (as central vowel distinct) |
Notes on Danish Phonology
- Consonants: Danish features aspirated plosives, uvular /ʁ/, palatal fricatives, and a unique stød/glottal component. Voiced plosives (/b/, /d/, /g/) behave differently in coda versus onset positions. At the beginning of a syllable (onset) they are aspirated while in coda, they are not.
- Vowels: Danish has a complex vowel system with front rounded vowels and stød, as well as central unstressed vowels. Its phonemic inventory is much larger than English’s five cardinal vowels, which include tense–lax differentiations absent in Danish
The Use of Phonotactic Constraints in Danish Speakers
Danish fits a (C)(C)(C)V(C)(C) syllable structure for stressed syllables, with restrictions based on vowel length, consonant type, and the presence of stød—a creaky voice tone that interacts with syllable weight. Its phonotactic system enforces clear rules around consonant clusters, vowel quality, and stress, which may affect second-language English acquisition.
Key Phonotactic Constraints in Danish:
- Vowel Length–Consonant Cluster Rule
After short vowels, stressed syllables can have up to three consonants in the coda (e.g., “tekst” /ˈtɛkst/), while after long vowels only up to two consonants are allowed (e.g., “host” /ˈhɔːst/) (septentrio.uit.no). - Restricted Onsets and Codas
Onset clusters are limited: only specific CC and CCC combinations are permitted (e.g., /spl/, /skr/). Coda clusters follow sonority sequencing principles and may include a voiceless stop + /s/ sequence (isca-archive.org, en.wikipedia.org). - Schwa Assimilation and Elision
Schwa (/ə/) frequently assimilates to adjacent sonorants, becomes syllabic, or is deleted after obstruents, which affects syllable structure and transaction to English syllables (en.wikipedia.org). - Stød (Glottal Tone)
A laryngeal/creaky voice phenomenon occurs on stressed heavy syllables (long vowel or short vowel + sonorant). Stød presence prevents certain coda clusters and marks syllable weight (en.wikipedia.org). - Lenition of Plosives in Intervocalic Position
Voiceless plosives /p, t, k/ are often lenited (become fricatives or approximants) or voiced between vowels, impacting English-like pronunciations (en.wikipedia.org).
Implications for SLPs and Teachers
- English speakers may insert vowels or simplify clusters: “street” → /sə.ʃtriːt/ or “text” → /tɛkst/ but avoid longer codas.
- Schwa deletion patterns may cause unpredictable vowel insertions or omissions in English words.
- Stød is not present in English, so it may lead to unusual voice quality or be dropped entirely in L2 speech.
- Intervocalic plosive weakening might cause /t/ to sound like /ɾ/ or /ð/ in English, affecting intelligibility.
Danish Speech Developmental Norms
| Age of Acquisition | Sounds / Phonological Features |
|---|---|
| 2;6–2;11 years (30–35 mo) | Children master all vowels and consonants except for the palatal fricative /ɕ/, which is acquired by 3;0–3;5 (portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk). |
| By 3;11 years (47 mo) | Nearly all common phonological processes (e.g., cluster reduction, assimilation) are resolved . |
| By 4;11 years (~59 mo) | All phonemes, including /ɕ/, are acquired and produced with >90% accuracy; consonant clusters are correctly used . |
Language Specific Differences Between English and Danish
Danish and English share a mostly similar core structure, both following the Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) order. However, Danish is a verb‑second (V2) language, meaning the finite verb must always appear in the second position of a main clause—a flexibility English lacks. Danish uses two grammatical genders (common and neuter) and marks definite nouns with postposed articles (-en, -et), unlike English. Verbs are simple—no conjugation for person or number—but Danish relies on auxiliary verbs and fixed word order. These distinctions can influence English learning for Danish speakers in predictable ways.
| Language Features | Danish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Sentence Word Order | SVO by default; V2 applies when another element is fronted (e.g., I går så Peter…) | SVO |
| Adjectives/Noun Modifiers | Adjectives precede nouns and agree in gender/number (en stor hund, et stort hus) | Adjectives precede nouns |
| Possessives | Possessor + ’s form via genitive ‑s (Peters bil) | Possessor + ’s |
| Possessive Pronouns | Separate forms: min/mine follow typical pronoun rules | my, your, his, etc. |
| Verb inflection | No person marking; only tense (spiser, spiste) | Verbs change for tense |
| Pronouns | Subject/object distinction; T‑V distinction exists (du vs. De) | Independent pronouns required |
| Pronoun Gender | Natural gender: han/hun; objects use den/det | he, she, it |
| Subjects of Sentences | Cannot be dropped; even dummy der can appear | Normally expressed |
| Regular Past Tense | Past tense with ‑te/‑ede suffixes (e.g., spiste) | verb + -ed |
| Irregular Past Tense | Some irregulars (e.g., var, gik) | irregular forms (went, saw) |
| Negatives | ikke placed after verb or subject | “not” or auxiliary verbs |
| Double Negatives | Not standard; rare | Present in dialects |
| Question formation | V2 rule: verb first in yes/no questions (Kommer du?); wh‑word wakes structure | Auxiliary inversion (“Do you…?”) |
| Definite Articles | Enclitic ‑en/-et/-ne (hunden, huset, huse) | “the” |
| Indefinite Articles | en/et before nouns; plural indefinite uses nogle | “a,” “an” |
| Prepositions | Precede noun; no case marking | in, on, at |
| Present Progressive Verb Form | No separate form; context or adverb used | verb + -ing |
| Modal Verbs | Use auxiliaries (kan, vil, må); no modal suffixes | can, will, must |
| Copula/”To Be” Verbs | er for all persons; no conjugation | is, are, am |
| Auxiliary Verbs | Use har for perfect; no do auxiliary | do, have, be |
| Passive Voice | Formed with blive + past participle | “be” + past participle |
| Direct Object Pronouns | Follow object; same pronouns as subject forms | me, him, her |
| Conjunctions | og (and), men (but), eller (or) | and, but, or |
| Plurals | Suffixes ‑er, ‑e, or zero; definite plural ‑ne | noun + -s |
Additional Germanic Languages
This is just one of seven Germanic languages we feature in the World Language Library. Click below to explore related languages that share roots with English, including Dutch, Norwegian, Afrikaans, and others.
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Contributors:
A special thanks to Timothy Ayala with Our Lady of the Lake University for data compilation and research that went into this article!
