Page:A Danish and Dano-Norwegian grammar.djvu/65

Rh imorges (rr) this morning, imor(g)en to-morrow. Sometimes the meaning changes according as g is pronounced or not:

126. h has before vowels the sound of English h; Ex. : han he, Haab hope, holde to hold, hilse to greet.

. A mute h is written before j and v in the following words: Hjerne brain, Hjelm helmet, ihjel to death, Hjerte heart, Hjort hart, Hjord herd, Hjem home, Hjul wheel, Hjælp help, Hjörne corner, hva(d) what, hvem, hvo who, hvis whose, if, hvilken which, hvor where (and compounds thereof hvorfor why etc.), Hval whale, Hvalp whelp, hvas sharp, hvæsse to whet, Hvede wheat, Hveps wasp, hver each, Hverda(g) week day, hverken neither, Hverv task, hverve to enlist, hvid white, hvidte to whiten, Hvil rest, hvine to shriek, Hvirvel whirlpool, hviske to whisper, hvisle to hiss, Hvitting whiting, Hvælv vault, hvæse to hiss.

. In the western and northern part of Norway the pronominal words spelt with hv are regularly pronounced with k: kem, ka etc., while some others are pronounced with kv: kvass, kvit, kvalp etc.

This pronunciation is not used by polite society, but the traveller may come across it.

117. x in some foreign words represents the sound of ks (many people still use this sign to express the same combination of sounds also in domestic words, see § 123 note 2); Ex. : orthodox, Oxyd, extraordinœr, Examen. At the beginning of words of Greek origin it is usually pronounced s: Xerxes (pr. serses), Xylograf.