Help:IPA/Swedish

|

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em"

|+ Consonants

! colspan="2" | IPA

! rowspan="2" | Examples

! rowspan="2" | English approximation

| {{Audio|Sv-bok.ogg|bok|help=no}}

| book

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|tɕ}}

| {{Audio|Sv-kjol.ogg|kjol|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-tjock.ogg|tjock|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-kön.ogg|kön|help=no}}

| sheep ({{abbr|SWE|Sweden Swedish}}); cheap ({{abbr|FIN|Finland Swedish}})

| {{Audio|Sv-dop.ogg|dop|help=no}}

| dad

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|r}}{{IPA link|d̪|d}}

| {{Audio|Sv-nord.ogg|nord|help=no}}In many of the dialects that have an apical rhotic consonant, a recursive sandhi process of retroflexion occurs, and clusters of {{IPA|/r/}} and dental consonants {{IPA|/rd/}}, {{IPA|/rl/}}, {{IPA|/rn/}}, {{IPA|/rs/}}, {{IPA|/rt/}} produce retroflex consonant realisations: {{IPAblink|ɖ}}, {{IPAblink|ɭ}}, {{IPAblink|ɳ}}, {{IPAblink|ʂ}}, {{IPAblink|ʈ}}. In dialects with a guttural R, such as Southern Swedish, they are {{IPA|[ʁd]}}, {{IPA|[ʁl]}}, {{IPA|[ʁn]}}, {{IPA|[ʁs]}}, {{IPA|[ʁt]}}. In Finland Swedish, retroflexion might only occur in some varieties, especially among young speakers and in fast speech.

| retroflex {{IPA|/d/}}

| {{Audio|Sv-fot.ogg|fot|help=no}}

| foot

| {{Audio|Sv-god.ogg|god|help=no}}

| good

| {{Audio|Sv-hot.ogg|hot|help=no}}

| hat

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|ʃ}}

| {{Audio|Sv-sju.ogg|sju|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-stjärna.ogg|stjärna|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-skör.ogg|skör|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-station.ogg|station|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-pension.ogg|pension|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-ett geni.ogg|geni|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-choklad.ogg|choklad|help=no}}Sweden Swedish {{IPA|/ɧ/}} varies regionally and is sometimes {{IPAblink|x|xʷ}}, {{IPAblink|ɸ|ɸˠ}}, or {{IPAblink|ʂ}}.

| somewhat like Scottish loch or sheep (varies regionally)

| {{Audio|Sv-jord.ogg|jord|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-genom.ogg|genom|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-Göteborg.ogg|Göteborg|help=no}}

| yoyo

| {{Audio|Sv-kon.ogg|kon|help=no}}

| cone

| {{Audio|Sv-lov.ogg|lov|help=no}}

| lack

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|r}}{{IPA link|l̪|l}}

| {{Audio|Sv-ett kärl.ogg|kärl|help=no}}

| retroflex {{IPA|/l/}}

| {{Audio|Sv-mod.ogg|mod|help=no}}

| mode

| {{Audio|Sv-nod.ogg|nod|help=no}}

| node

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|r}}{{IPA link|n̪|n}}

| {{Audio|Sv-barn.ogg|barn|help=no}}

| retroflex {{IPA|/n/}}

| {{Audio|Sv-lång.ogg|lång|help=no}}

| long

| {{Audio|Sv-pol.ogg|pol|help=no}}

| pole

| {{Audio|Sv-rov.ogg|rov|help=no}}{{IPA|/r/}} varies considerably in different dialects: it is pronounced alveolar or similarly (a trilled r when articulated clearly or in slow or formal speech; in normal speech, usually a tapped r or an alveolar approximant) in virtually all dialects (most consistently {{IPA|[r]}} in Finland), but in South Swedish dialects, it is uvular, similar to the Parisian French r. At the beginning of a syllable, it can also be pronounced as a fricative {{IPAblink|ʐ}}, similar to in English genre or vision.

| Scottish rose; somewhat like American atom

| {{Audio|Sv-sot.ogg|sot|help=no}}

| soot

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|r}}{{IPA link|s̪|s}}

| {{Audio|Sv-torsdag.ogg|torsdag|help=no}}

| retroflex {{IPAslink|ʃ}}, somewhat like shrine

| {{Audio|Sv-tok.ogg|tok|help=no}}

| tool

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|r}}{{IPA link|t̪|t}}

| {{Audio|Sv-parti.ogg|parti|help=no}}

| retroflex {{IPA|/t/}}

| {{Audio|Sv-våt.ogg|våt|help=no}}

| vote

|+ Rare sounds

! IPA

! Examples

! English approximation

| Wales

| Wales

| Zlatan, Bratislava

| aha

|+ Vowels

! colspan="2" | IPA

! rowspan="2" | Examples

! rowspan="2" | English approximation

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|ɑ}}

| {{Audio|Sv-matt.ogg|matt|help=no}}

| cut

| {{Audio|Sv-mat.ogg|mat|help=no}}

| bra

| {{Audio|Sv-en värk.ogg|värk|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-verk.ogg|verk|help=no}}Before {{IPA|/r/}}, the quality of non-high front vowels is changed: the unrounded vowels {{IPA|/ɛ/}} and {{IPA|/ɛː/}} are lowered to {{IPAblink|æ}} and {{IPAblink|æː}} (except certain instances of unstressed {{IPA|/ɛ/}}), whereas the rounded {{IPA|/œ/}} ({{IPAblink|œ̫˔|œ˔}}) and {{IPA|/øː/}} are lowered to open-mid {{IPAblink|œ̫|œ}} and {{IPAblink|œ̫|œː}}. For simplicity, no distinction is made between the mid {{IPA|[œ˔]}} and the open-mid {{IPA|[œ]}}, with both being transcribed as {{angbr IPA|œ}}. Note that younger speakers use lower allophones {{IPAblink|ɶ}} (which they tend to merge with {{IPA|/ɵ/}} into {{IPAblink|ɵ̞|ɵ}}) and {{IPAblink|ɶː}}.

| trap

| {{Audio|Sv-ära.ogg|ära|help=no}}

| ham

| {{Audio|Sv-fet.ogg|fet|help=no}}

| mayor

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|e̞|e}}

| {{Audio|Sv-häll.ogg|häll|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-fett.ogg|fett|help=no}}

| sell

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|eː}}

| {{Audio|Sv-häl.ogg|häl|help=no}}

| RP pair

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|i}}

| {{Audio|Sv-sill.ogg|sill|help=no}}

| hit

| {{Audio|Sv-sil.ogg|sil|help=no}}

| leave

| style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|o̞|o}}

| {{Audio|Sv-moll.ogg|moll|help=no}}In Sweden, {{IPA|[{{IPA link|ɔ}}, {{IPA link|o̫|oː}}, {{IPA link|œ̫˔|œ}}, {{IPA link|œ̫|œː}}, {{IPA link|ø̫|øː}}, {{IPA link|ʏ̫|ʏ}}, {{IPA link|y̫|yː}}]}} are protruded vowels, while {{IPA|[{{IPA link|ɵ̞|ɵ}}, {{IPA link|ʏ̈|ʉ}}, {{IPA link|ʏ͍|ʉː}}, {{IPA link|ʊ͍|ʊ}}, {{IPA link|u͍|uː}}]}} are compressed. Instead, {{IPA|[{{IPA link|œ͍|œ}}, {{IPA link|œ͍|œː}}, {{IPA link|ø͍|ø}}, {{IPA link|ø͍|øː}}, {{IPA link|ʉ}}, {{IPA link|ʉː}}, {{IPA link|y͍|y}}, {{IPA link|y͍|yː}}]}} are compressed, while only {{IPA|[{{IPA link|o̞|o}}, {{IPA link|o̞|oː}}, {{IPA link|u̫|u}}, {{IPA link|u̫|uː}}]}} are protruded in Finland. This makes Finland Swedish {{IPA|[y]}} and {{IPA|[yː]}} sound closer to Sweden Swedish {{IPA|[ʉ]}} and {{IPA|[ʉː]}}, which are also fronted, rather than to their respective counterparts.

| off

| {{Audio|Sv-mål.ogg|mål|help=no}}

| floor

| style="text-align: center;" |{{IPA link|ø}}

| {{Audio|Sv-nött.ogg|nött|help=no}}

| rowspan="2" | somewhat like hurt

| {{Audio|Sv-börja.ogg|börja|help=no}}

| {{Audio|Sv-öra.ogg|öra|help=no}}

| rowspan="2" | somewhat like herd

| {{Audio|Sv-nöt.ogg|nöt|help=no}}

| rowspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA link|ʉ}}

| {{Audio|Sv-full.ogg|full|help=no}}, {{Audio|Sv-musik.ogg|musik|help=no}}{{IPAblink|ɵ̞|ɵ}} and {{IPAblink|ʏ̈|ʉ}} are the Sweden Swedish unstressed allophones of a single phoneme {{IPA|/ɵ/}} (stressed {{IPA|/ɵ/}} is always realized as {{IPA|[ɵ]}}):

• {{IPA|[ɵ]}} is used in all closed syllables (as in {{lang|sv|kultur}} {{Audio-IPA|Sv-kultur.ogg|[kɵlˈtʉːr]|help=no}}) but also in some open syllables, as in {{lang|sv|musikal}} {{IPA|[mɵsɪˈkɑːl]}}. Some cases involve resyllabification caused by retroflexion, which makes the syllable open, as in {{lang|sv|kurtisan}} {{IPA|[kɵʈɪˈsɑːn]}}.
• {{IPA|[ʉ]}} appears only in open syllables. In some cases, {{IPA|[ʉ]}} is the only possible realization, as in {{lang|sv|känguru}} {{IPA|[ˈɕɛ̌ŋːɡʉrʉ]}}, or when {{IPA|/ɵ/}} appears in hiatus, as in {{lang|sv|duell}} {{IPA|[dʉˈɛlː]}}.
• In other cases, {{IPA|[ɵ]}} is in free variation with {{IPA|[ʉ]}} so {{lang|sv|musik}} can be pronounced as {{Audio-IPA|Sv-musik.ogg|[mɵˈsiːk]|help=no}} or {{IPA|[mʉˈsiːk]}} {{Harvcol|Riad|2014|pp=28–9}}. For simplicity, only {{angbr IPA|ɵ}} will be used.

| rowspan="2" | moot

| duell,
känguruThe distinction between compressed {{IPAblink|ʏ̈|ʉ}} and protruded {{IPAblink|ʏ̫|ʏ}} is particularly difficult to hear for non-native speakers:

• Sweden Swedish compressed {{IPA|[ʉ]}} sounds very close to German compressed {{IPAblink|ʏ͍|ʏ}} (as in müssen {{Audio-IPA|De-müssen.ogg|[ˈmʏsn̩]|help=no}});
• Sweden Swedish protruded {{IPA|[ʏ]}} sounds more similar to English unrounded {{IPAblink|ɪ}} (as in hit) than to German compressed {{IPA|[ʏ]}}, and it is very close to Norwegian protruded {{IPA|[ʏ]}} (as in nytt {{IPA|no|nʏtː

|+ Suprasegmentals

! colspan="2" | IPA

! rowspan="2" | Examples

! rowspan="2" | Explanation

| rowspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | {{IPA|ˈ◌}}

| style="text-align: center;" | anden
{{IPA|[ˈǎnːdɛn]}}
'the duck'

| tone 1 / acute accent:Finland Swedish, as well as a few accents of Mainland Sweden, have a simple primary stress (transcribed as {{angbr IPA|ˈ}}) rather than a contrastive pitch accent. In such accents, a word like anden is always pronounced as {{IPA|[ˈɑnːden]}} regardless of its meaning. The variety of Swedish spoken in Åland usually resembles phonetically speaking the dialects of the Uppland area rather than other Finland Swedish varieties, but the pitch accent is still largely missing.

• rising-falling tone in Stockholm: {{Audio-IPA|Sv-anden (wild duck).ogg|[ˈǎnːdɛ̂n]|help=no}}
  
• low-rising tone in Gothenburg: {{IPA|[ˈànːdɛ̌n]}}
  
• falling-low tone in Malmö: {{IPA|[ˈânːdɛ̀n]}}

| style="text-align: center;" | anden
{{IPA|[ˈânːdɛn]}}
'the spirit'

| tone 2 / grave accent:

• falling-falling tone in Stockholm: {{Audio-IPA|Sv-anden (spirit, genie).ogg|[ˈânːdɛ̂n]|help=no}}
  
• falling-rising tone in Gothenburg: {{IPA|[ˈânːdɛ̌n]}}
  
• rising-falling tone in Malmö: {{IPA|[ˈǎnːdɛ̂n]}}

| style="text-align: center;" | Oxenstierna
{{IPA|[ˈʊ̂ksɛnˌɧæːɳa]}}

| secondary stress, as in intonation

| style="text-align: center;" | Helsingfors
{{audio-IPA|sv-Helsingfors.ogg|[hɛlsɪŋˈfɔʂː]|help=no}}

| geminated consonant: fresh shrimpConsonants always tend to geminate after a stressed short vowel in Sweden Swedish. In Finland, this is not always true and between vowels usually only happens when the short vowel is followed by an orthographic geminate.