Language Know How: Denmark Edition

Our first edition of Language Know How explores Denmark where 98% of the population speaks Danish. Here are some fun and interesting facts: 

• Danish is a northern Germanic, also known as Nordic language, and is also one of the Scandanavian languages.
• The Danish alphabet has 29 letters and uses the basic 26-letter Latin alphabet plus the three additional letters Æ, Ø, Å.
• “Hyggelig” is a Danish word that means ‘comfy, cozy, intimate and contented’ and is untranslatable to English.
• Grammatically there are two genders: common and neuter, not masculine and feminine.
• In addition to Denmark, Danish is also the official language of Greenland.
• It is easy to create new Danish words because of their ability to compound words.
• Changing the sound and pitch of your voice can change the meaning of what you are saying. So be careful!
• In 1948, Danish gained the new letter å.

 Do you want to learn Danish, or some other language? Read which languages are more difficult to learn on our blog post: The Top Most Difficult Languages To Learn To Speak.

Have more questions? Let Paragon help. Click here.

Resources:

http://denmark.dk/en/meet-the-danes/language/

http://www.listenandlearn.org/blog/9-surprising-facts-about-the-danish-language/