Why Danish sounds funny to Scandinavians

The history behind why Danish sounds like a "throat condition". I'm told Danes speak like they have a cough, hiccups, or a potato in their throat. I did some linguistic excavating find out why.
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~ Issues ~
Danish fans & commenters took issue with the way I talked about Danish dialects at the end. I appreciate you sharing more! For my original source vs the opposing dialects-alive-and-well perspective, see the end of my "sources" section in my sources doc linked below.
~ Briefly ~
Danish sounds funny to other Scandinavians. And just about everyone else, too.
When I recently explored the asymmetric intelligibility between Scandinavian countries, I noticed that everyone seemed ready to point the finger at Danish. It sounds weird, funny, throaty, and unlike the familiar Swedish accent or the many Norwegian dialects.
Journey back 1300 years ago to Old Norse, then learn how change after change shifted Denmark towards its current standout pronunciation. Along the way, we'll meet:
- the splitting of East Norse and West Norse
- the vowel reduction of the early Middle Ages
- the lenition of the later Middle Ages
- the ever-proliferating vowel qualities that give Danish its high vowel count
- the extremely unique and notable stød
- the "guttural R", a late but fashionable borrowing
One final change will solidify Danish's phonological rift with its neighbors. Unlike Sweden and Norway, Denmark's dialects largely fade in the face of the speech of Copenhagen. This history leaves us with a quirky modern Danish, a unique language indeed.
~ Credits ~
Art, animation, narration and a bit of the music by Josh from NativLang
Sources for claims made, along with credits for images, fonts, sfx and the rest of the music:
docs.google.com/document/d/1e...

[@tobbe1224]

As a dane, never have I been so offended by something I 100% agree with

[@JoseKilen]

As a Dane it has always bothered me when English people use the Danish vowel 'ø' as an 'o'. Twenty øne piløts looks ridicules if you know how the 'ø' is actually pronunced.

[@hermanessences]

For us Norwegians, it's like this: It's really easy to understand oral Swedish and written Danish, but not written Swedish and oral Danish.

[@The-Stitch]

One fun fact, danes even makes fun of each others accents

[@elo7096]

It’s nice to be a Dane, because we can curse at so many people without them understanding.

[@doctorrandomiise2532]

Don't think you've got away with it just yet, Finland. Your linguistic crimes will soon be known to the world.

[@barry1902]

As an Englishman in Denmark I can vouch for this. It's widely considered almost impossible to speak Danish like a Dane. Even if you can master their soft D's, you'll have an accent. My teacher told me I'd never learn Danish 100% fluently because 'It's not possible'. Another teacher who has lived and spoken Danish for over 20 years told me she still gets corrected by her Danish husband. It's been a tough time for me 😂

[@maximusate8951]

My parents studied in Sweden in the 80’s. One day, the neighbours came over and their little girl overheard them talking in Chinese to each other. She then asked her parents if they were speaking Danish!

[@lisebrinck8848]

I feel this odd sense of pride because my language is so weird. If you don't have 39 distinct vowels, what are you even doing with your life?

[@TheInstinctWithinV2]

Being Norwegian, the weirdest thing is that it's actually pretty easy to understand Danish if you ask them to speak slowly. I think it's partially that the words ARE there and they're pretty clear, just not when Danes are too excited to say them. Ya'll motherflippers speak on a whole different vibration frequency or somethin' Edit: that said I don't understand them at all when they say numbers, because those are different words

[@SluggoCreations]

The Swede:

[@intellectualfreedom8790]

This is how it is for me as a Swede: a Norwegian approaches and we’ll enjoy talking to each other and understanding one another but we both talk our respective language. Which is kind of cool. When a dane starts talking danish to you, there is usually a confused pause of silence… and then the Swede switches to English hoping the Dane won’t get offended. While ignoring the ancestral cry of shame in the background reminding you that understanding each other is a good Scandinavian sense of mutual bond. And the feeling of “I should be able to understand, but maybe I’m just stupid.”

[@omma911]

As a German, Danish sounds incredibly friendly to me. I like the overall melody of the language and the gutteral sounds remind me more of a purring cat.

[@m.b.82]

Dane:

[@myrtotompans9996]

im greek and as a teenager i used to randomly watch this one danish show and i thought their language sounded so cool especially the "potato in throat" sounds i really liked the sound of it and wanted to learn danish.i understand why it sounds funny too ppl but it makes me kind of upset that ppl think it sounds ugly i unironically think it sounds very nice

[@mylesreed3956]

Norwegian:

[@valberm]

Normal person in a café: "cough, cough";

[@ev.c6]

As a foreigner living in Denmark for almost 10 years - and almost becoming a Dane -, I have to admit Danish is a beautiful language. It’s so exotic and harsh. I really like the different sounds it has and the challenge to master it. It’s a gorgeous language in its own way. 😊

[@Hirundo-demersalis]

Probably the best thing about Danish; ‘fart’ means ‘speed’ in Danish, so you’ll see speed limit signs that say ‘fartkontrol’ literally everywhere in Denmark.

[@daviddanielsson3643]

Having grown up in Gothenburg my family would often take the ferry to Fredrikshavn in Denmark. The thing that I noticed as a kid/teenager was that a lot of danes seemed to speak to me expecting me to understand what they were saying. And I would just nod my head and say "Ja..." (Yes) and hope that I chose the correct answer.