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I'm trying to learn Danish [ø] myself. Is there an example of minimal pairs for the Danish vowels [ø] and [u]? By minimal pairs I mean, for example, "beat" and "bit" which exhibit how [i] and [ɪ] are pronounced differently.
If there isn't anything exactly like this, examples as "food" versus "good" for [u] versus [ʊ] are also appreciated. If there isn't anything like this, what's a common way for English speakers, in particular GA speakers, to learn [ø]?
Vowels are always tricky to get the hang of. Especially Danish with its many vowels...
Perhaps 'Dus' as in 'have dus' and 'dys' from 'dysse'(doze)? I'm not a native speaker, so ask a Dane for advice. Perhaps one of the vowels only occurs in closed syllables, and vice versa, which might make it tricky to find a real minimal pair.
As for [ø], it is the rounded variant of [e] which occurs at the start of "ay" in "may", but in Danish it is a bit more backed, so more like the rounded variant of [ɪ]. One might try pronouncing the 'i' in 'bit' with 'kissing lips', instead of slightly pulling the corners of your mouth like you normally would when saying this vowel. This approaches the pronunciation of the Danish vowel.
