42 Comments
Am I the only one who thinks about Han Solo to remember that "han" means "he" ? ;)
In the word-for-word pronunciation, "och" has a clear, audible "k" sound to the end, but it seems to disappear in the whole sentence pronunciation. Is there a rule to when to get rid of the "k" sound, or does it only happen in fast, daily speech?
You only say "ook" when you're really emphasizing "och." Otherwise, say "ooh"
829
Btw Han och hon is a novel by August Strindberg, you can read it or download it here: http://litteraturbanken.se/#!/forfattare/StrindbergA/titlar/HanOchHon/info (free and legal). It's an epistolary novel (=made up of letters) based on Strindberg's love affair with Siri von Essen. Most famous quote: Jag vill, jag vill vara galen! 'I want, I want to be crazy!'
In the normal voice it sounds like she says " Hoboboon". Always use the slow one to understand.
han oh hawn
The speech is a little quick for absolute beginners, but you pick it up with practice. It's about the speed real people speak. Like in English, sounds at the ends of words can blend together a bit when spoken quickly. Say "him and her" quickly and the d in "and" and the h in "her" will merge into a single sound. It's the same in Swedish. The hard "k" sound in "och" is almost always dropped.
Thank you for your response. My daughter and I are planning a trip to our ancestral beginnings...Gagnef Parish, Dalarna, Sweden. Our ancestral line goes back to Olaus Laurentii in the 1500s. In fact, the church that he presided over still stands and people still worship there. Our ancestors are buried in the church cemetary. I don't know how I will feel to stand there, but it will be magical. But I digress. I want to have a working feel of the language by then.
With your command of English, you easily have it in you to learn Swedish. The two languages are very similar, and the majority of Swedish words are also in English, (they may be pronounced and spelled slightly differently, with slightly different meanings, but I find it helps). It will take 500+ hours to master what's in Duolingo. You can make it through the tree much faster, but it takes additional time to memorize everything. But even knowing just a little bit will make your Sweden experience more fun -- I recently did my first trip in July when I was only half way through the tree :)
I am jealous. I am so looking forward to our trip. I have pictures of my great-grandparents, who were born there and would give anything to be able to speak with them.
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Would this be the same for "him and her"? Then again maybe that's not proper English..
- 829
It's an accepted answer. Him and her could either mean Han och hon or Honom och henne, but you use the object forms more often in English than we do in Swedish so it makes sense to accept that answer here.
Yes. On its own or if emphasized, the K-sound is heard. But in all other uses, it's silent.
- 829
ch is just a spelling convention. Whenever the ch is pronounced in this word (it's usually silent), it's pronounced k.
Memorize the words...
Or if you're a Star Wars fan, remember Han is male.
Interesting how we learn to associate a with female and o or e with male/nueter. This has been difficult for me but im getting the hang of it
