Editing Norwegian language (section)

==Phonology==
{{Main|Norwegian phonology}}

{{unreferenced section|date=July 2016}}
While the sound systems of Norwegian and Swedish are similar, considerable variation exists among the dialects.

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Consonant phonemes of Urban East Norwegian
!
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br />[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palato-alveolar consonant|Palato-<br />alveolar]]
! [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- align="center"
! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
| ({{IPA link|ɳ}})
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|- align="center"
! [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
| {{IPA link|p}} {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|t}} {{IPA link|d}}
|
| ({{IPA link|ʈ}} {{IPA link|ɖ}})
| {{IPA link|k}} {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|- align="center"
! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| ({{IPA link|ʂ}})
| {{IPA link|ç}}
| {{IPA link|h}}
|- align="center"
! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|ʋ}}
| {{IPA link|l}}
|
| ({{IPA link|ɭ}})
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|- align="center"
! [[Flap consonant|Flap]]
|
| {{IPA link|ɾ}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɽ}}
|
|
|}

The retroflex consonants only appear in East Norwegian dialects as a result of [[sandhi]], combining {{IPAslink|ɾ}} with {{IPAslink|d}}, {{IPAslink|l}}, {{IPAslink|n}}, {{IPAslink|s}}, and {{IPAslink|t}}.

The realization of the rhotic {{IPAslink|ɾ}} depends on the dialect. In Eastern, Central, and Northern Norwegian dialects, it is a flap {{IPAblink|ɾ}}, whereas in Western and Southern Norway, and for some speakers also in Eastern Norway, it is uvular {{IPAblink|ʁ}} or {{IPAblink|χ}}. And in the dialects of North-Western Norway, it is realized as {{IPAblink|r}}, much like the trilled {{Grapheme|rr}} of Spanish.

===Vowels===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Vowel phonemes of Urban East Norwegian
|-
! [[Orthography]]
! [[help:IPA|IPA]]
! Description
|- align=center
| a
| {{IPA|/{{IPAplink|ɑ}}(ː)/}}
| Open back unrounded
|- align=center
| ai
| {{IPA|/ɑɪ̯/}}
|
|- align=center
| au
| {{IPA|/æʉ̯/}}
|
|- align=center
| e (short)
| {{IPAslink|ɛ}}, {{IPAslink|æ}}
| open mid front unrounded
|- align=center
| e (long)
| {{IPAslink|eː}}, {{IPA|/æː/}}
| close mid front unrounded
|- align=center
| e (weak)
| {{IPAslink|ə}}
| schwa (mid central unrounded)
|- align=center
| ei
| {{IPA|/æɪ̯/}}, {{IPA|/ɛɪ̯/}}
|
|- align=center
| i (short)
| {{IPAslink|ɪ}}
| close front unrounded
|- align=center
| i (long)
| {{IPAslink|iː}}
| close front unrounded
|- align=center
| o (short)
| {{IPAslink|ɔ}}, {{IPAslink|ʊ}}
| close back rounded
|- align=center
| o (long)
| {{IPAslink|uː}}, {{IPAslink|oː}}
| close back rounded
|- align=center
| oi
| {{IPA|/ɔʏ̯/}}
|- align=center
| u
| {{IPA|/{{IPAplink|ʉ}}(ː)/}}
| close central rounded (close front [[endolabial]])
|- align=center
| y (short)
| {{IPAslink|ʏ}}
| close front rounded (close front [[exolabial]])
|- align=center
| y (long)
| {{IPAslink|yː}}
| close front rounded (close front exolabial)
|- align=center
| [[æ]] (short)
| {{IPAslink|æ}}, {{IPAslink|ɛ}}
| near open front unrounded, open mid front unrounded 
|- align=center
| æ (long)
| {{IPA|/æː/}}, {{IPAslink|eː}}
| near open front unrounded, close mid front unrounded
|- align=center
| [[ø]] (short)
| {{IPAslink|œ}}
| open mid front rounded
|- align=center
| ø (long)
| {{IPAslink|øː}}
| close mid front rounded
|- align=center
| øy
| {{IPA|/œʏ̯/}}
|
|- align=center
| [[å]] (short)
| {{IPAslink|ɔ}}
| open-mid back rounded
|- align=center
| å (long)
| {{IPAslink|oː}}
| close-mid back rounded
|}

===Accent===<!-- This section is linked from [[Tone (linguistics)]] -->
Norwegian is a [[pitch-accent language]] with two distinct pitch patterns, like Swedish. They are used to differentiate two-syllable words with otherwise identical pronunciation. For example, in many East Norwegian dialects, the word {{lang|no|bønder}} ('farmers') is pronounced using the simpler tone 1, while {{lang|no|bønner}} ('beans' or 'prayers') uses the more complex tone 2. Though spelling differences occasionally differentiate written words, in most cases the minimal pairs are written alike, since written Norwegian has no explicit accent marks. In most eastern low-tone dialects, accent 1 uses a low flat pitch in the first syllable, while accent 2 uses a high, sharply falling pitch in the first syllable and a low pitch in the beginning of the second syllable. In both accents, these pitch movements are followed by a rise of [[Intonation (linguistics)|intonation]]al nature (phrase accent)—the size (and presence) of which signals emphasis or focus, and corresponds in function to the normal accent in languages that lack [[tone (linguistics)|lexical tone]], such as English. That rise culminates in the final syllable of an accentual phrase, while the utterance-final fall common in most languages is either very small or absent.

There are significant variations in pitch accent between dialects. Thus, in most of western and northern Norway (the so-called high-pitch dialects) accent 1 is falling, while accent 2 is rising in the first syllable and falling in the second syllable or somewhere around the syllable boundary. The pitch accents (as well as the peculiar phrase accent in the low-tone dialects) give the Norwegian language a "singing" quality that makes it easy to distinguish from other languages. Accent 1 generally occurs in words that were monosyllabic in [[Old Norse]], and accent 2 in words that were polysyllabic.