å

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See also: Å and Appendix:Variations of "a"
å U+00E5, å
LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
Composition:a [U+0061] + ◌̊ [U+030A]
← ä
[U+00E4] 		Latin-1 Supplement æ →
[U+00E6]

Bavarian[edit]

Letter[edit]

å

  1. A letter of some Bavarian alphabets.

Usage notes[edit]

  • å [​​ɔ] is distinguished from a [ɑ], as in Håndl (= Handel) vs. Handl (= Händlein, Händchen), wår (= war) vs. war (= wäre)
  • Some other special characters sometimes used in Bavarian German are:
    • ä, ö, ü (even in some older Fraktur texts with dots instead of aͤ, oͤ, uͤ)
    • a͡i, a͡u, e͡a, i͡a, o͡a, u͡a
    • r

Chamorro[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

å (upper case Å)

  1. The third letter of the Chamorro alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also[edit]

Cimbrian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle High German an, ane, from Old High German ana, from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, onto”). Cognate with German an, English on.

Preposition[edit]

å (Luserna)

  1. on; For stationary objects, e.g. It is on the table. [+dative]
  2. on, onto; For moving objects. e.g. I put it on the table. [+accusative]

Adverb[edit]

å

  1. (Luserna) on, onward

References[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Analogical after the other names of vowel letters in the Roman alphabet. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

å (upper case Å)

  1. the last (29th) letter of the Danish alphabet
Inflection[edit]
Declension of å
neuter
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative å å'et å'er å'erne
genitive å's å'ets å'ers å'ernes
Declension of Å
neuter
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative Å Å'et Å'er Å'erne
genitive Å's Å'ets Å'ers Å'ernes
Alternative forms[edit]
  • aa (at least in the spelling of words)
See also[edit]


Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse á (“river”), from Proto-Germanic *ahwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂ (“water”), related to Latin aqua (“water”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

å c (singular definite åen, plural indefinite åer)

  1. river, creek, stream (only used of rivers in Denmark)
Declension[edit]
Declension of å
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative å åen åer åerne
genitive ås åens åers åernes
Derived terms[edit]
See also[edit]
  • bæk (smaller)
  • elv (river in Scandinavia and Greenland)
  • flod (in general, but never in Denmark)

Etymology 3[edit]

From Old Norse á (“ow!”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

å

  1. oh
  2. O
  3. well

Etymology 4[edit]

From Old Norse á, from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, onto”). Cognate with Swedish å, English on, and German on.

Pronunciation[edit]

Preposition[edit]

å

  1. (Jutland, dialectal) on
    Synonym: på

East Central German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Cognate to German an.

Letter[edit]

å

  1. (Silesian) A letter of some Silesian alphabets.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Alternative characters used instead of å are oa.

Preposition[edit]

å (+ dative)

  1. (Silesian, local) on

å (+ accusative)

  1. (Silesian) on

Finnish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

See Å.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio (letter name: ruotsalainen oo)(file)

Letter[edit]

å (lower case, upper case Å)

  1. The twenty-sixth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called ruotsalainen oo and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Despite being part of the Finnish alphabet, the letter is only used in Scandinavian names. As a result, it is often seen as a symbol of the Swedish language (which is also an official language in Finland, although not without controversy).

See also[edit]

German Low German[edit]

Letter[edit]

å (upper case Å)

  1. A letter of some Low German alphabets.

Usage notes[edit]

See also[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (letter name): IPA(key): /oː/
  • (phoneme): IPA(key): /oː/, /ɔ/

Etymology 1[edit]

Borrowed from Swedish å.

Letter[edit]

å (upper case Å)

  1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Norwegian Bokmål alphabet, written in the Latin script.
Usage notes[edit]

Before the letter's introduction in 1917, the sound it represents today (similar to the "a" in "all") was written with two As, Aa (this spelling can still be seen in some proper names, and in digital media, such as urls or e-mails, due to using a keyboard where the letter doesn't exist or for fear of mojibake). The two As were originally a new form of the Old Norse á, whose representation was a long open a-sound (similar to the "a" in "father"). Gradually, it turned into the modern å-sound and the Aa was eventually replaced with Å.

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse at (“by, to”), whence also at and ad.

Particle[edit]

å

  1. to (infinitive marker)
    Å løpe
    to run

Etymology 3[edit]

From Old Norse ó, was used in the same sense.

Interjection[edit]

å

  1. To express different emotions, oh
    Å, er det deg?
    Oh, is it you?
    Å gud, for et dårlig vær det er.
    oh dear, look how bad the weather is.
    Å, skitt, du har problemer!
    Oh shit, you're in trouble!
  2. Used to make the message more urgent, pleading, or to underline it, oh
    Å, vær så snill, kan vi ikke dra?
    Oh, please, can't we go?
  3. To express hesitation or dismissal, oh
    Å ja, sier du det?
    Oh really, is that so?
    Hva skjedde? —Å, ingenting
    What happened here? —Oh, nothing.
    Å, jeg er ikke så sikker på det.
    Oh, I'm not so sure about that.

Etymology 4[edit]

From Old Norse á, related to Latin aqua (“water”).

Noun[edit]

å f or m (definite singular åa or åen, indefinite plural åer, definite plural åene)

  1. A small river; a creek; a big stream (used mostly in dialects, obsolete in writing)
    Mange bekker små gjør en stor å
    every little helps (literally: "Many small creeks make a big stream")
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 5[edit]

From Old Norse hvat, same as hva.

Pronoun[edit]

å

  1. (dialectal) what (interrogative pronoun)

Etymology 6[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Symbol[edit]

å

  1. (physics) symbol used to represent an angstrom unit

Etymology 7[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

å

  1. Misspelling of og.

References[edit]

  • “å” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
  • “å” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
  • “å” in The Ordnett Dictionary

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Alternative forms[edit]

  • (Etymologies 2-6): aa (obsolete typography (pre-1917))

Etymology 1[edit]

Borrowed from Swedish å.

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

å (upper case Å, definite singular å-en, indefinite plural å-ar, definite plural å-ane)

  1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Norwegian Nynorsk alphabet, written in the Latin script.
Usage notes[edit]

Before the letter's introduction in 1917, the sound it represents today (similar to the "a" in "all") was written with two A's, Aa (this spelling can still be seen in names and toponyms). The two A's was originally a new form of the Old Norse á, whose representation was a long open a-sound (similar to the "a" in "father"). Gradually it turned into the modern å-sound and the Aa was eventually replaced with Å. Today, the letter å may be used without having the etymological correspondence with á.

The letter å or aa in the Norwegian runic inscriptions from 17-19 centuries is usually written as ᛆᛆ.

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse at (“by, to”), whence also at and åt.

Pronunciation[edit]

Particle[edit]

å

  2. used as the infinitive marker; to
    Dei er vanskelege å sjå.
    They are hard to see.

Etymology 3[edit]

From Old Norse á, from Proto-Germanic *ahwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ékʷeh₂. Cognates include Latin aquā (“water”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

å f (definite singular åa, indefinite plural åer, definite plural åene)

  2. a (small) river; a creek
    Mange bekker små gjer ei stor å
    numerous small contributions give big results
    (literally, “Many small creeks makes a big stream”)
  4. (chiefly dialectal or archaic) a (large) stream
Inflection[edit]
Historical inflection of å
indefinite singular definite singular indefinite plural definite plural
Aasen1 Aa Aai Aaer Aaerna
1901 aaer (aair) aaerne (aaine)
1917 å åa, åi åer åene
1938 åa [åi]
2012 (current) å åa åer åene

Forms in italics are currently considered non-standard. Forms in [brackets] were official, but considered second-tier. Forms in (parentheses) were allowed under Midlandsnormalen. 1Nouns were capitalised for most of the 19th century.

Alternative forms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

From Old Norse ó, was used in the same sense.

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

å

  2. To express different emotions; oh
    Å, er det du?
    oh, is it you?
    Å gud, for eit dårleg vêr det er!
    Oh dear, what a bad weather!
    Å skitt, du er i trøbbel!
    Oh no, you're in trouble!
  4. Used to make the message more urgent, pleading, or to underline it; oh
    Å, ver so snill, kan vi kje dra?
    oh please! Can't we go?
  6. To express hesitation or dismissal; oh
    Å ja, seier du det?
    oh really, is that so?
    Kva skjedde? Å, ingenting.
    What happened? Oh! Nothing.
    Å, eg er ikkje so sikker på det
    oh, I'm not so sure about that

Etymology 5[edit]

From Old Norse á (“on, on top of”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Preposition[edit]

å

  1. used in certain fixed expressions regarding position
    Han fall å bak
    He fell backwards
    (literally, “He fell on back”)
    Ho låg å gruve.
    She was lying on her stomach.
  2. used in expressions regarding time
    Det er midt å natta.
    It's the middle of the night.

Etymology 6[edit]

From Old Norse hvat, same as kva. Other dialectal variants include ka, ke or kæ.

Pronoun[edit]

å

  1. (dialectal) what (interrogative pronoun)

Etymology 7[edit]

Named after Swedish physisist Anders Johan Ångström (1814–1874). An initialism of his name.

Alternative forms[edit]

Symbol[edit]

å

  1. (physics) symbol used to represent an angstrom unit

Etymology 8[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

å

  1. misspelling of og

Adverb[edit]

å

  1. misspelling of òg

References[edit]

  • “å” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
  • “å”, in Norsk Ordbok: ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet, Oslo: Samlaget, 1950-2016
  • “å” in The Ordnett Dictionary
  • “å” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
  • Ivar Aasen (1850) “aa”, in Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog‎[1] (in Danish), Oslo: Samlaget, published 2000

Skolt Sami[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

å (upper case Å)

  1. The thirty-fifth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also[edit]

Slovene[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Letter a with ring above ◌̊ to signify a closer rounded vowel.

Pronunciation[edit]

Symbol[edit]

å

  1. (SNPT) Phonetic transcription of dialectal sound [ɒ̝].

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • Kenda-Jež, Karmen (2017 February 27) Fonetična trankripcija [Phonetic transcription]‎[2] (in Slovene), Znanstvenoraziskovalni center SAZU, Inštitut za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša, archived from the original on January 22, 2022, pages 27–30

Southern Sami[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

å (upper case Å)

  1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Southern Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter name, noun, preposition
Phoneme

Etymology 1[edit]

From two a’s written on top of each other; compare ä and ö.

Letter[edit]

å (lower case, upper case Å)

  1. The third to last letter of the Swedish alphabet, called å and written in the Latin script.

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Swedish ā, from Old Norse á, from Proto-Germanic *ahwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂.

Noun[edit]

å c

  1. a river, a creek, a big stream
    Gå inte över ån efter vatten.
    Don’t cross the stream to get water.
Usage notes[edit]
  • Watercourses in Sweden and the other Nordic countries are in Swedish usually referred to as bäck, å or älv. An å is usually larger than a bäck (“brook, creek”) but smaller than an älv (“large river”). A certain large bäck may however be larger than a certain small å, and a certain large å may be larger than a certain small älv. The word to use about a certain watercourse is often included as part of its name: Göta älv, Stångån. There are regional differences in whether watercourses of a certain size tend to have å or älv in their names. All älvar are found north of Gothenburg, but that is also where the largest rivers in Scandinavia are found. For some rivers in southern Sweden the word ström is used, since that is the watercourse word included in their names. Rivers in other parts of the world are usually referred to with the word flod, which is a more neutral word for any watercourse larger than a bäck.
Declension[edit]
Declension of å 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative å ån åar åarna
Genitive ås åns åars åarnas
See also[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

From Old Norse á, from Proto-Germanic *ana.

Preposition[edit]

å

  1. (obsolete except in certain expressions) on
Usage notes[edit]

å is generally an older form of på, which derives from the compound upp +‎ å. Compare English 'pon.

Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

Contraction of och (“and; to”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

å

  1. (colloquial) Contraction of och (“and”).
    Korv å mos
    Sausage 'n' mash

Particle[edit]

å

  1. (colloquial speech) Contraction of och (“to”).
    Synonym: att
    • 2023 November 2, 11:12 from the start, in Rapport 19:30, spoken by Andreas Öbrink:
      Men det har varit svårt för småpartierna å nå ut i år med frågor som […]
      But it has been difficult for the small parties to reach out this year with issues such as […]
Usage notes[edit]
  • The term is often only used in spoken language, or depictions of such.

Further reading[edit]

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