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34 +skryte, skvette, skyte, skyve, slenge, sleppe/+sIippe, sIite, sm, slass, smelIe, smette, smyge, snike, +snyte, sove, spinne, sprekke, sprette, springe, stige, stikke, *stinge, +stjelej*stele, strekke, strijstride, stryke, *stokke, sta, suge, *supe, svelle, svelte, +svergej*sverje, svi/*svide, svike, +svinge, svinne, svive, synge, sokkej+synke, taj*take, tigge, +treffe, +irekke, *trengje, trive, tryte, +tvinge, *tva, *tyggje, tyte, *vege, +vekke, *vekse, velte, verpe, *verte, veve, vike, vinde, vinne, vrij*vride, +vrerej*vere. 3 A Guide to Pronunciation 3.1 Standards ofPronunciation. There is no official or private organization that attempts to dictate standards of pronunciation in Norway. Nevertheless there is considerable agreement, at least for Bm, on what may be called a "standard pronunciation" (SP), which is comparable to the Received Pronunciation of British English or the Biihnenausspracheof German. Thisdoes not cover the precise sound quality of each phoneme, but it does regulate with relatively little variation the phonemes usedin each word, including the prosodic ones, and their arrangement. SP is a rather literary pronunciation, used in circumstances where some formality is called for, as in reading, lecturing, or serious discussion. It will be used by those persons who have had implanted in them a striving for "correct" pronunciation. Deviations from it may occur in informal or intimate speech, and each region has its own particular variations which are recognized by others as marking one's regional origin. In general, SP tends to remain more closely tied to the spelling than informal pronunciation, and in part reflects such personal achievements as literacy, education, and social status. In Norway, as in other countries, standards of cultivated pronunciation have been set by the privileged Introduction classes and have radiated from urban centers. In the period of the Danish union, when education was centered in Copenhagen, Danish pronunciation represented an ideal for most Norwegians . This tradition persisted into the 19th Century, when the most Danish-sounding kind of Norwegian, that of Kristiansand, had high prestige. The importance of Bergen as an international seaport and a seat of theatrical art also gave its pronunciation a prestige which only faded with the growing predominance of Oslo in the second half of the century. Oslo, as the capital city, is today the center of most cultural activities and its speech therefore a model to many speakers. For this reason it is customary in manuals of pronunciation to take the speech of "educated Oslo speakers" as the norm of correctness, although in actual fact each city has its own educated norm, which often deviates markedly from that of Oslo. Since Oslo is in Eastern Norway, its phonetic base is East Norwegian , though the pronunciation of cultivated speakers is clearly differentiated , not only from that of the surrounding countryside, but also from that of the man in the street. Nn does not, in the strictest sense, have an SP, since there is no one region, social class, or urban center in which it is the prevailing spoken language . Nearly all who speak it have learned it in school or from reading and follow in their use of it a compromise between the spelling and their own basic dialect. Since its grammar and vocabulary are most congenial to those who have grown up in a Midland or West Norwegian dialect, the most commonly heard pronunciations are also based on these. It is generally felt that the most pleasing Nn pronunciation is from regions like Telemark, which has a Midland dialect with many East Norwegian traits. The policy followed in marking pronunciations in the present dictionary Introduction was to establish at least one pronunciation for each word which would be both comprehensible and socially acceptable. When our sources vigorously disagreed, the situation was saved by adding a second, or rarely a third, pronunciation in brackets, preceded by the word "also." There is no intention of suggesting that the latter is either more or less acceptable than the other. For Bm such written sources as Alnres, Norsle Uttaleordbole (ed. 1924), Norsle Rilesmdlsordbole , and Popperwell, Norwegian Pronunciation were considered, but not always followed. The first marking was made by a native of Eastern Norway (Hedmark), Dag Gundersen, and checked by a native of Oslo, Wenche Sandsten. Where these disagreed, a panel of six other East Norwegian speakers was consulted (by having their pronunciations recorded on tape). For Nn the sources were far less adequate, consisting largely of the markings found in Hellevik's Ordliste, which are limited to so-caned "foreign" words. A special problem arose when Bm and Nn words were...

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