Nå (rising intonation)
The Danish particle nå has many different functions. Among these is the free-standing nå (oh), i.e. a nå that constitutes a turn and has rising intonation.
Nå functions both as a) answer receipt and b) information receipt.
a) When a speaker poses a question, and receives an answer, the speaker can use nå as a receipt of the answer. This receipt is also a continuer; the interactional turn will transition to the other speaker.
b) When a person receives previously unknown information that might be surprising or unexpected, that person can utter nå as a receipt of information or news.
An example of nå with rising intonation is:
Samtalebank | Samfundskrise | 1043 ((face-to-face))
01 AST: fordi de har jo oss øh: dyr arbejdskraft
because they have PTC also uh: expensive labour
because they also have uh: expensive labour
02 men nu har de så været heldige å få sån
but now have they then been so lucky to get such
but now they have been lucky to get
03 nogen s:tuderende fra u- ukraine eller
some students from u- ukraine or
some s:tudents from u- ukraine or
04 landbrugsstuderende→
agricultural students
agricultural students
05 (1.0)
06 AST: som [bor]→
that live
who live
07 LIS: [kars]ten [å: ]→
name and
karsten a:nd
08 AST: [ja:]→
yes
ye:s
09 (.)
10 AST: som [bor] nede i deres øh:m
that live down in their uh:m
who live down in their uh:m
10 LIS: [nå:]
PTC
oh:
11 AST: de har bygget nyt stuehus↘
they have built new main building
they’ve built a new main building
12 AST: å så ?hhhh i den (.) længe der hvor de havde
and then in that part there where they had
and then ∙hhhh in that (.) part where they had
13 haft bolig→
had housing
been living
14 (0.4)
15 LIS: m[m: ]↗
PTC
mm:
16 AST: [der] er (.) de så kommet til å bo↗
there are they then come to to live
there (.) they’ve then ended up living
16 (0.4)
17 LIS: nå:↗
PTC
oh:?
18 (0.4)
19 LIS: ne:j det var fi:nt↘
no that was fine
oh how lovely
References and further reading
Den Danske Ordbog (online Danish dictionary) on nå
Femø-Nielsen (2002) provides a concise overview of the different functions of nå
Heritage (1984) is an extensive analysis of the function of oh in English
Local (1996) is an extensive analysis of the prosodic features of oh in English
Steensig (2001) an extensive section on prosodic features of Danish
Steensig m.fl. (2013) contains a section with our more thorough analysis of nå with both rising and straight intonation
Entrances
Forms > Word classes > Interjections and particles > Nå (Rising)
Forms > Sounds > Prosody > Nå (Rising)