From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Å (disambiguation).
Å (small: å) represents various (although often very similar) sounds in several languages. Å is part of the alphabets used for the Alemannic and theBavarian-Austrian dialects of German. In a similar way, it is considered a separate letter in the Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish alphabets, as well as in the North Frisian, Walloon, Emiliano-Romagnolo, Chamorro, Istro-Romanian, Lule Sami, Skolt Sami, Southern Sami, and Greenlandic alphabets.
Å is often perceived as an A with a ring, interpreting the ring as a diacritical mark. However, in the languages that use it, the ring is not considered a diacritic but part of the letter. It developed as a form of semi-ligature of an A with a smaller o above it to denote a long and darker A, similar to how the umlaut mark that distinguishes Ä from A, and Ö from O, developed from a small e written above the letter in question.
Scandinavian languages
The letter Å in Scandinavian alphabet represents two sounds, one short and one long.
The short version represents IPA /ɔ/.
In Swedish, the long version represents IPA /oː/. In Danish and Norwegian, the long version is pronounced IPA /ɔː/.
[edit]Origin
In historical linguistics, the Å-sound originally had the same origin as the long /aː/ sound in German Aal and Haar (Scandinavian ål, hår, English eel, hair).
Historically, the letter Å derives from the Old Norse vowel á. This was a long /aː/ sound, but over time, the vowel developed to an [ɔ] sound. Medieval writing often used doubled letters for long vowels, and the vowel continued to be written Aa. In Old Swedish the use of the ligatures Æ and Œ that represented the sounds [æ]and [ø] respectively were gradually replaced by new letters. Instead of using ligatures, a minuscule E was placed above the letters A and O to create newgraphemes. They later evolved into the modern letters Ä and Ö, where the E was simplified into two dots. This construction was also applied to construct a new grapheme where an "aa" previously had been used. A minuscule O was placed on top of an A to create a new letter. It was first used in print in the Gustav Vasa Bible that was published in 1541 and replaced Aa in the 16th century.[1]
In an attempt to modernize the orthography, linguists tried to introduce the Å to Danish and Norwegian writing in the 19th century. Most people felt no need for the new letter, although the letter group Aahad already been pronounced like Å for centuries all over Scandinavia. Aa was usually treated as a single letter, spoken like the present Å when spelling out names or words. Orthography reforms making Å official were carried out in Norway in 1917 and in Denmark in 1948. It has been argued that the Å only made its way to official Danish spelling due to anti-German and pro-Scandinavian sentiment after World War II. Danish had been the only language apart from German and Luxembourgish to use capitalized nouns in the last decades, but abolished them at the same occasion.
In a few names of Danish cities or towns, the old spelling has been retained as an option due to local resistance, e.g. Aalborg and Aabenraa; however, Ålborg and Åbenrå are the spellings recommended by the Danish Language Board.[2]
Icelandic and Faroese are the only Scandinavian languages not to use the letter Å. The Old Norse letter á is retained, but has become a diphthong, pronounced [au] in Icelandic and [ɔa] in Faroese. The short variation of Faroese á is pronounced [ɔ], though.
[edit]Transcription
Since Å is a letter with a distinct sound, not an A with an accent, it is best to keep it when referring to Scandinavian words and names in other languages. However, in Danish and Norwegian, Aa is widely known as the old way of writing Å, used until the first part of the 20th century, and a fully functional transcription for Å when using a foreign keyboard. Due to technical troubles with the Å, Å is in internet addresses also mostly spelled as Aa. In Swedish, where this transcription is less common, Å is often rendered simply A in internet addresses. (internationalized domain names are still fairly uncommon)
[edit]Use in names
Before 1917 some Norwegian place names contained three or four consecutive "a"s: for instance Haaa (now Håa, a river), Blaaaasen (Blååsen, 'the blå/blue ås/ridge'), and, though hypothetically, even the creek Raaaaa (Rååa, 'the Råå creek'; a creek).
In some names of geographical places, the old Aa spelling dominates, more often in Denmark than in Norway (where it has been abolished in official use since 1917). Locals of Aalborg and Aabenraa resist the Å, whereas Ålesund is rarely seen with Aa spelling. Official rules allow both forms in the most common cases, but Å is always correct.
In personal names, the bearer of the name uses Aa or Å according to their choice. Most people keep to the traditional Aa style, Aagaard being much more common than Ågård.
Company names are also written as the owner decides. Sometimes the Aa spelling is used to imply a conservative or nostalgic feeling.
It is also common for people whose last name begins with "Aa" to use this in their initials. For instance, a person named Hans Aaberg could therefore use the initials "H.Aa." instead of "H.A.".
Many last names in Norway adhere to old fashioned spellings. About 240 persons in Norway (2007) have Aa as a family name (for instance the writer Brynjar Aa); it is never spelled as Å.
The letter Å in Scandinavian alphabet represents two sounds, one short and one long.
The short version represents IPA /ɔ/.
In Swedish, the long version represents IPA /oː/. In Danish and Norwegian, the long version is pronounced IPA /ɔː/.
[edit]Origin
In historical linguistics, the Å-sound originally had the same origin as the long /aː/ sound in German Aal and Haar (Scandinavian ål, hår, English eel, hair).
Historically, the letter Å derives from the Old Norse vowel á. This was a long /aː/ sound, but over time, the vowel developed to an [ɔ] sound. Medieval writing often used doubled letters for long vowels, and the vowel continued to be written Aa. In Old Swedish the use of the ligatures Æ and Œ that represented the sounds [æ]and [ø] respectively were gradually replaced by new letters. Instead of using ligatures, a minuscule E was placed above the letters A and O to create newgraphemes. They later evolved into the modern letters Ä and Ö, where the E was simplified into two dots. This construction was also applied to construct a new grapheme where an "aa" previously had been used. A minuscule O was placed on top of an A to create a new letter. It was first used in print in the Gustav Vasa Bible that was published in 1541 and replaced Aa in the 16th century.[1]
In an attempt to modernize the orthography, linguists tried to introduce the Å to Danish and Norwegian writing in the 19th century. Most people felt no need for the new letter, although the letter group Aahad already been pronounced like Å for centuries all over Scandinavia. Aa was usually treated as a single letter, spoken like the present Å when spelling out names or words. Orthography reforms making Å official were carried out in Norway in 1917 and in Denmark in 1948. It has been argued that the Å only made its way to official Danish spelling due to anti-German and pro-Scandinavian sentiment after World War II. Danish had been the only language apart from German and Luxembourgish to use capitalized nouns in the last decades, but abolished them at the same occasion.
In a few names of Danish cities or towns, the old spelling has been retained as an option due to local resistance, e.g. Aalborg and Aabenraa; however, Ålborg and Åbenrå are the spellings recommended by the Danish Language Board.[2]
Icelandic and Faroese are the only Scandinavian languages not to use the letter Å. The Old Norse letter á is retained, but has become a diphthong, pronounced [au] in Icelandic and [ɔa] in Faroese. The short variation of Faroese á is pronounced [ɔ], though.
[edit]Transcription
Since Å is a letter with a distinct sound, not an A with an accent, it is best to keep it when referring to Scandinavian words and names in other languages. However, in Danish and Norwegian, Aa is widely known as the old way of writing Å, used until the first part of the 20th century, and a fully functional transcription for Å when using a foreign keyboard. Due to technical troubles with the Å, Å is in internet addresses also mostly spelled as Aa. In Swedish, where this transcription is less common, Å is often rendered simply A in internet addresses. (internationalized domain names are still fairly uncommon)
[edit]Use in names
Before 1917 some Norwegian place names contained three or four consecutive "a"s: for instance Haaa (now Håa, a river), Blaaaasen (Blååsen, 'the blå/blue ås/ridge'), and, though hypothetically, even the creek Raaaaa (Rååa, 'the Råå creek'; a creek).
In some names of geographical places, the old Aa spelling dominates, more often in Denmark than in Norway (where it has been abolished in official use since 1917). Locals of Aalborg and Aabenraa resist the Å, whereas Ålesund is rarely seen with Aa spelling. Official rules allow both forms in the most common cases, but Å is always correct.
In personal names, the bearer of the name uses Aa or Å according to their choice. Most people keep to the traditional Aa style, Aagaard being much more common than Ågård.
Company names are also written as the owner decides. Sometimes the Aa spelling is used to imply a conservative or nostalgic feeling.
It is also common for people whose last name begins with "Aa" to use this in their initials. For instance, a person named Hans Aaberg could therefore use the initials "H.Aa." instead of "H.A.".
Many last names in Norway adhere to old fashioned spellings. About 240 persons in Norway (2007) have Aa as a family name (for instance the writer Brynjar Aa); it is never spelled as Å.
No comments:
Post a Comment