Scandinavian names...
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Scandinavian names...
| Mon, 11-14-2005 - 5:08pm |
We are trying to add a few names to our list and any help would be greatly appreciated. We are looking for boy and girl names since we do not know which we will need.
We like unusual names for the U.S.A. Grandparents speak Norwegian so we have to balance that with the English version.
boys mn could be Olaf or Per (both family names)
as for girls we are a bit stuck, mn could be Nissa (this is on our fn list at this time)
Thank you for your response. This is my first post to your board. I really enjoy reading the posts on this board.

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If we're talking about remaining faithful to their proper pronunciations, I think most Americans are past hope for Scandinavian names. My dad lived in Finland (note, some do not consider Finland part of Scandinavia) for 2 years and speaks fluent Finnish, so I've learned a little about the pronunciation of the hardest language in the world. Dad also had to learn a little Swedish for those who didn't speak Finnish. Finnish is actually completely unrelated to Norwegian and Swedish, being more closely (yet still quite distantly) related to Hungarian. There is a lot of vocabulary borrowing between Finnish and Swedish for geographic and historical reasons.
Finnish uses latin-like vowels (if you speak Spanish, the vowels are the same) plus a few extras. The ä is the 'short a' sound (hat, mat, etc.). The ö and the y have no English equivalents. The y sounds like the u in French lune. It's like saying an EE sound, only rounding your lips into an o shape. The ö is like saying the 'e' from bed and rounding your lips. This sound is, occasionally, found in French, but I don't know French. All I know is that it's sometimes the les/le vowel.
Each Finnish vowel is its own syllable and doesn't form a diphthong. The primary stress is always on the first syllable. Secondary stresses are a bit more variable, especially since there are a LOT of compound words in Finnish which keep their original stresses. Double letters (vowels and consonants) are lengthened. Oh and the r is rolled--the Finns apparently think three to four taps of the tip of the tongue is the true/ideal length. The j is pronounced pretty much like an English y and ALL h's, including ones in syllable final positions, are pronounced.
The only really hard name from Josie's big list is Mielikki (MEE eh leek kee). The kk is pronounced like the double k sound from the phrase 'black cat' (ie, there's a longer than normal pause between the closure and the plosion).
For names featuring especially the sounds/pronunciations that are very different from the English system, a child will probably never hear his name pronounced right. I think that ä, ö, and å don't appear on American legal documents, either.
Oh, and for a Norwegian name suggestion: I knew a Norwegian child growing up. His name was Magne. Came to my birthday party every year in grade school.
HTH
Jordan
The nearest you come to ö is
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