This mnemonic system is based on the substitution of consonant sounds with digits. With this technique you can represent numeric sequences using words. Since remembering words is far more easy than numbers, this system can be used to easily remember numerical sequences, like telephone numbers or year dates. For the number you want to remember you find corresponding words which you turn into a catchy story. The made up story should be very unusual so it sticks.
For this program, the Mnemonic Major System has been modified to better suit Norwegian phonetics. In particular, digit 6 has been adapted to only match the /ʃ/ and /tʃ/ sounds, which in Norwegian are represented by combinations like sj, skj, kj, and tj.
For example: The number "53138552" becomes
LAM (5=L, 3=M) - DUM (1=D, 3=M) - FLY (8=F, 5=L) - LYN (5=L, 2=N)
| Digit | Speech Sounds (IPA) | Associated Letters & Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | /s/, /z/ | S som i Sirkel, Z som i Zalo | 0 er en Sirkel, 0 på engelsk er Zero |
| 1 | /t/, /d/ | T som i Tal, D som i Dal | t og d har én nedstrek |
| 2 | /n/ | N som i Nei | n har to nedstreker |
| 3 | /m/ | M som i Meg | m har tre nedstreker |
| 4 | /r/ | R som i Rein | tenk på fiRe, eller R som i rein, fire bein |
| 5 | /l/ | L som i Liv | Romertallet L er 50 |
| 6 | /ʃ/, /tʃ/ | SJ som i Sjø, SKJ som i Skje, KJ som i Kjede, TJ som i Tjue | J har en kurve nederst slik som 6 har |
| 7 | /k/, /g/ | K som i Kul, G som i Gul | K inneholder to 7-tall |
| 8 | /f/, /v/ | F som i Fisk, V som i Visk | Jeg assosierer V med en V8-motor. F lyder som V når den uttales. F ligner på 8 |
| 9 | /p/, /b/ | P som i Pil, B som i Bil | 9 rotert 180 grader ser ut som b. 9 speilvendt ser ut som P. P og B lyder likt når de uttales. |
| Digit | Speech Sounds (IPA) | Associated Letters & Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | /s/, /z/ | S as in See, Z as in Zero | Zero begins with Z. Other letters sound similar when spoken. |
| 1 | /t/, /d/, /θ/, /ð/ | T as in Take, D as in Day, TH as in Thing, TH as in This | t and d each have one downstroke, and sound similar when voiced. |
| 2 | /n/ | N as in Nay | n has two downstrokes when written. |
| 3 | /m/ | M as in May | m has three downstrokes when written. |
| 4 | /r/ | R as in Ray | Last letter of four. |
| 5 | /l/ | L as in Lay | Roman numeral L = 50. |
| 6 | /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/ | CH as in Chip, J as in Jump, SH as in Ship, S as in vision | J has a curve near the bottom, like 6 does. |
| 7 | /k/, /g/ | K as in Key, G as in Gee | K contains two 7s. |
| 8 | /f/, /v/ | F as in Few, V as in View | I associate V with a V8 engine. F sounds like V when spoken. F looks like 8. |
| 9 | /p/, /b/ | P as in Pay, B as in Bay | 9 rotated 180 degrees looks like b. 9 flipped horizontally looks like P. P and B sound similar when spoken. |
Vowels (A, E, I, O, U, Y, Æ, Ø, Å) and some consonants (H, J, W, C) are ignored, which allows for flexibility in creating words while maintaining the number sequence.