83. æ has the sound of English a in care; it occurs long or short before r; Ex. long: bœre to bear, lœre to teach, nœr near; short: Fœrd conduct, voyage, Smerte pain, Verk work.
Note. The orthographic sign of this sound may be, as seen from the above examples, œ or e; the former is used when the same word in another form or another kindred word has a or aa where the word in question has æ; Ex. : Færd derived from fare to travel, bære to carry, impf. bar; færre fewer, comp. of faa; Kærring old (or married) woman derived from Kar(l) man. Where this rule does not apply, i. e. where there is no such a or aa to judge by, then the long a-sound as a rule is written œ, the short e. But there are some exceptions. Ex. long sound written e: der there, er is, Erende message, fjerde fourth, her here, igjer(d)e (or igjære) going on, Jern iron, Jertegn sign, miracle. Short sound written œ: fordærve to spoil, forfærde to frighten; særdeles especially, værd (colloquially pronounced vært) worth, værre worse.
Obs. Veir weather, pron. vær
84. ä long or short, like English e in “men”; Ex. short: ret right, slet even, bad, trœt tired ; long: Glœdeoy, Fœdre fathers, Stœder cities.
Orthographic signs of the sound ä are œ and e; their use corresponds to the rule given in § 83 note. Exceptions: a) long ä written e: Eventyr fairy tale, ihje‘l to death, Kjede chain, vever agile; b) short ä written œ: Drœg grapnel, Vœg wall, Grœs grass, hœslig ugly, lemlœste to maim, Vœske satchel, Vœ(d)ske fluid, rœd afraid, trœt tired, Kjœft (vulgar) mouth, Tœft scent, Krœft cancer, Blœk ink, lœkke to leak, Lœk leak, Sprœk crack, sprœkke to crack, Fœlle fellow, Trœl thrall, Vœld spring, Vœlde power, (Il)vœlv vault, Kjœlke sled, Frœnde relative, œnse to mind, faafœngt useless, forfængelig vain, Hævd prescriptive right.
Note. In the dialect of Christiania and the southern part of Norway the long sound of ä has been replaced by the long e, and the short sound of ä is only half wide.
