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AlphabetandPronunciation

AlphabetandPronunciation
Consonants
Vowels
Stress
PagelastupdatedSeptember4.

Consonants
ThefollowingarepronouncedandwrittenasinEnglish:
b,d,f,h,l,m,n,p,r,t,v,x
Notes:
gappearshardasin'gun',butisneversoftasin'gem'(seebelow).
risrolledasinSpanish,butwhenfollowedbyd,l,ort,itisnotpronouncedandthepreceding
vowelislengthenedslightly.Thecombinationrsispronounced'sh'.(Note:Insouthernmost
Sweden,rispronouncedinthebackofthethroatasinGerman).
d,t,narepronouncedwiththetonguetouchingthebackoftheteeth(dental)
sisalwayspronouncedasin'sell',neverlikez,asin'has'or'dogs'.
Thefollowingconsonantsarepronouncedand/orspelleddifferentlythaninEnglish,andrequirespecial
attention:
cispronouncedlikethesin'sit'whenfollowedbye,i,y.Elsewherepronouncedask.
gispronouncedasywhenfollowedbye,i,y,,or.SoSwedish'gst'soundslikethefirst
syllablein'yesterday'.Beforea,o,,uitispronouncedhardasinEnglish'go'.
jisalwayspronouncedlikey,asin'yes'.
kispronouncedsomewhat,thoughnotexactly,likesh,asin'ship'beforee,i,y,,.Theactual
soundisbetween'sh'andtheGermanchin'ich'.Trysaying'sh'withyourtonguefurtherbackand
yourlipsrounded.Beforea,o,,upronouncedhard,asin'kill'.
Thelettersq,w,zappearonlyinforeignwordsandsomepropernames.qispronouncedasahard
'k',wisalwayspronouncedas'v',andzisalwayspronouncedas's'.
Specialcombinations:
dj,gj,hj,ljareallpronouncedlikeSwedishj(Englishy)
sch,sj,skj,stjareallpronounced(likek,seeabove)betweenshandtheGermanchin'ich',but
thisholdsbeforeanyvowel.
skispronouncedastheabove,butonlybeforee,i,y,,.ElsewherepronouncedasinEnglish
'scare'and'scout'.
tj,kjarepronouncedliketheEnglishshin'show',soisslightlydifferentthantheabovesounds.
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Thesecanoccurbeforeanyvowel.
chispronouncedastheSwedishtj/kjbeforee,i,y,,,butpronouncedasthesj/stjsoundbefore
a,o,,u.(notcommon)
ngusuallythisisonesound(velarnasal)asin'singer'and'rang',asopposedtothesoundin
'finger'.Butwhenfollowedbyastressedsyllableithasthesoundof'finger'.
rginthiscombination,thegispronouncedasy.
Note:keepinmindthatSwedishhastwosoundssimilartotheoneEnglishsound'sh'.

Vowels
InstandardSwedishallvowelsarepure,meaningtheylackthediphthongaloffglidesheardwithEnglish
vowels.
Note:IamusingAmericanpronunciationforEnglishexamples(unlessnotedotherwise).
aalowbackvowel.Whenlong,likethesoundintheBritishpronunciationof'father'.Whenshort,
likethesoundin'must'.
Likethesoundin'home'butwithouttheglide.
ewhenshort,thesoundin'set'.WhenlongliketheFrenchandthesoundin'make'butapure
vowelnotadiphthong(noglide).
Whenshort,thesameasshorte.Whenlong,almostaslongasthesoundin'plain'and'air',but
notquiteaslongaslonge(andagainwithnoglide).
iwhenlong,eeasin'feed'and'machine'.Whenshort,likethesoundin'bit'
whenshort,asinGerman,sayFrench'peu'and'le'.Whenlong,alongerversionof,like
German'schn'.
owhenlong,muchlikeooin'food'.Whenshort,liketheooin'good'.Notehowever,thatois
pronouncedinmanywordsas(inlongandshortpositions).
ywhenlong,likeGermanandFrenchuasin'dbut'.Englishspeakers,roundlipsasiftosayo
butsayee.Whenshort,itisjustamoreclippedversion.Remember,yisalwaysavowelin
Swedish.
uWhenlong,amoretightlypronouncedversionofy.Whenshort,alooser,lessroundedsound.
Note:Intheorderofthealphabet,,,andfollowz.

Stress
StressinSwedishfallsgenerallyonthefirstsyllableoftheword.However,forwordsbeginning
withaprefix(be,fr,etc...)thestresswillfallonthesecondsyllable.Forwordsendinginera,
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thestressfallsontheeofera.Andfinally,forwordsofFrenchorigin,thestressfallsonthefinal
syllable(paraply,ftlj,etc...)
Thisisjustageneralguideline,theserulesarenotconcrete.Inthelessons,importantexceptions
willbenoted.
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