I hope it's not like the movie.

October 13, 2008 6:31 PM

How do you pronounce the Norwegian name Trond?

Could a Norwegian member help me out with the pronounciation of the name Trond? My last name is Trondson and I've always prounced it with a silent D, but that's mostly because my brother's name is Tron, without the D. Just curious how it's pronounced "back home".

posted by hootch to Writing & Language (11 answers total)

Best answer: Asked a Norwegian co-worker and he says Trond is pronounced "troon", rolling the R and without saying the D.
Same with Trondson. "Troonsen" heavily rolling that R and no "D".

Your brothers name is Tron Trondson?
posted by ElmerFishpaw at 6:59 PM on October 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

I have a relative in Minnesota with a dentist named Trond. He pronounces it exactly how it is spelled.
posted by Help, I can't stop talking! at 7:32 PM on October 13, 2008

Like it's spelled. Trahnd.
posted by zippy at 8:54 PM on October 13, 2008

I knew one who pronounced it exactly as you would in English: like the verb tronned.

But I bet Elmer's answer is more technically authentic, Norwegian-style.
posted by rokusan at 9:56 PM on October 13, 2008

"Troon" sounds really weird to me (if it's supposed to rhyme with "croon"). I'd say "Trohnd" with a rolling 'r' and a slightly nasal 'n'.
posted by martinrebas at 10:25 PM on October 13, 2008

It's the first half of the name of a city, Trondheim, which I believe means Trond's home or home of the Tronds. The city name is pronounced "troaned hime" (with a rolled R) in my (US, Sons of Norway) experience.
posted by msalt at 11:37 PM on October 13, 2008

The closest I can get is that it rhymes with cron, with the "o" (and "r") being pronounced subtly differently depending on where in Norway one is from. As I'm no good with IPA I found a video from NRK instead. Pretty much the first word she says is the name Trond.
posted by esilenna at 12:18 AM on October 14, 2008

I was just recently in Trondheim and the train conductors pronounced the "T' somewhere between an English T and an English D. The R was rolled, but I'll admit I heard no "OO" sound, instead it was "O" sounding like "owe". Closest approximation was "droned heim" with a rolled R. The final d in "trond" was voiced, but very subtle. Anyway, that's how it sounded to my American ears after many repetitions.

More importantly: I think your brother is going to have to travel back in time to save humanity or set attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion in order to do that name justice.
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks at 3:43 AM on October 14, 2008

Best answer: Could a Norwegian member help me out with the pronunciation of the name Trond? ... Just curious how it's pronounced "back home".

I've bolded the parts of the question that make it crystal clear that the poster wants to know how it's pronounced by Norwegians and any answers involving Americanized versions ("Like it's spelled. Trahnd.") are irrelevant and should not have been posted.

The first answer, Elmer's, is correct and gives you a good idea of standard Norwegian pronunciation. R is rolled, d is silent (as it always is in -nd- in Norwegian), the o sounds to American ears more like oo.

I was just recently in Trondheim ... I heard no "OO" sound, instead it was "O" sounding like "owe"

The vowel probably sounds different in Trondheim because it's in the west and the dialect is quite different from the standard.
posted by languagehat at 9:02 AM on October 14, 2008 [2 favorites]

Whoops, sorry hootch, I missed "Norwegian member", that's pretty bad. I defer to AskMe's favorite Norwegian, languagehat ;) .
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks at 11:13 AM on October 14, 2008

I too was guilty of not reading the [more inside].
posted by rokusan at 2:48 PM on October 15, 2008