å

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See also: 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]

Translingual[edit]

Letter[edit]

å (upper case Å)

  1. The letter a with a ring above, considered an individual letter by most languages where it is used.

See also[edit]

Danish[edit]

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

See also[edit]


Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse á (“ow!”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

å

  1. oh
  2. O
  3. well

Etymology 2[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

å c (singular definite åen, plural indefinite åer)

  1. A small river; a creek; a big stream
Inflection[edit]
Declension of å
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative å åen åer åerne
genitive ås åens åers åernes
See also[edit]

Finnish[edit]

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]

  • Used only in Scandinavian names.

See also[edit]

German Low German[edit]

Letter[edit]

å (upper case Å)

  1. A letter of some Low German alphabets.

Usage notes[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Etymology 1[edit]

Formed by conjoining an "A" and an "a", with the lower case letter on top of the capital letter. The letter was invented in Germany during the late Middle Ages and was first introduced to Swedish in the 16th century (as in the Gustav Vasa Bible). Thence it spread to Norway and Denmark, but it was first declared an official letter in the Norwegian alphabet in 1917.

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 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, a preposition which originally meant "by" or "to". Related to Old Norse þat (“that”) and English that. Also, a precursor of Norwegian 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, 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")

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Formed by conjoining an "A" and an "a", with the lower case letter on top of the capital letter. The letter was invented in Germany during the late Middle Ages and was first introduced to Swedish in the 16th century (as in the Gustav Vasa Bible). Thence it spread to Norway and Denmark, but it was first declared an official letter in the Norwegian alphabet in 1917.

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

å (upper case Å)

  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 some cases). 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.

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse at, a preposition which originally meant "by" or "to". Related to Old Norse þat (“that”) and English that. Also the origin of the Norwegian at and ad.

Pronunciation[edit]

Particle[edit]

å

  1. to (infinitive marker)
    Dei er vanskelege å sjå.
    They are hard to see.

Etymology 3[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 laying on her stomach.
  2. used in expressions regarding time
    Det er midt å natta.
    It's the middle of the night.

Etymology 4[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

å

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

Etymology 5[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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

  1. A small river; a creek; a big stream (used mostly in dialects, archaic in writing)
    Mange bekker små gjer ei stor å
    numerous small contributions give big results (literally: "Many small creeks makes a big stream")

References[edit]

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]

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
Phoneme

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.

Etymology 1[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.
Declension[edit]
Declension of å 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative å ån åar åarna
Genitive ås åns åars åarnas
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 Göteborg, 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.
See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

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

Preposition[edit]

å

  1. (obsolete except in certain expressions) on
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from å
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