Changes

# Tonic accent as a phonologically relevant factor. Simply saying, the tonic accent is changes in pitch in different syllables in a word. The pitch itself can be high and low, and the combination of pitches forms the tonic accent. This should not sound intimidating as there are only two tones in Swedish. However, sometimes, the meaning of a word depends on the tone (see below).  

# Tonic accent as a phonologically relevant factor. Simply saying, the tonic accent is changes in pitch in different syllables in a word. The pitch itself can be high and low, and the combination of pitches forms the tonic accent. This should not sound intimidating as there are only two tones in Swedish. However, sometimes, the meaning of a word depends on the tone (see below).  

/i:/ is a long close front unrounded vowel. It means, the tongue goes up and forward, and the lips stay calm or smile. This sound therefore resembles English /i:/ in “team”, but it is tenser and closer. Tense your tongue a lot as you say this sound. vi /’vi:/ (we), lika /`li:ka/ (the same as).

* /i:/ is a long close front unrounded vowel. It means, the tongue goes up and forward, and the lips stay calm or smile. This sound therefore resembles English /i:/ in “team”, but it is tenser and closer. vi /’vi:/ (we), lika /`li:ka/ (the same as).

/i/ is a short close front unrounded vowel. This sound resembles /i:/, but it is much shorter, like in the English word “bin”. Pay attention to making this sound closer than in English.  hiss /’his:/ (elevator), finna /`fin:a/ (to find).

* /i/ is a short close front unrounded vowel. This sound resembles /i:/, but it is much shorter, like in the English word “bin”. hiss /’his:/ (elevator), finna /`fin:a/ (to find).

/y:/ is identical to /i:/, but the lips should be intensively rounded (as if you wanted to say “doom”). There is no similar English vowel, and you should practice this vowel a lot because foreigners tend to turn it into /i:/ or /u:/. yta /`y:ta/ (area), by /’by:/ (village).

* /y:/ is identical to /i:/, but the lips should be intensively rounded (as if you wanted to say “doom”). yta /`y:ta/ (area), by /’by:/ (village).

/ʏ/ is identical to /і/, but again, you will have to apply some rounding. yrke /`ʏrkə/ (profession, occupation), fylla /`fʏl:a/ (to fill (in)).

* /ʏ/ is identical to /і/, but again, you will have to apply some rounding. yrke /`ʏrkə/ (profession, occupation), fylla /`fʏl:a/ (to fill (in)).

/e:/ is a long mid front unrounded vowel. It is similar to English /e/ in “debt”, but it is much longer. Stretch the sound and feel its length. leva /`le:va/ (to live), veta /`ve:ta/ (to know, to be aware of).

* /e:/ is a long mid front unrounded vowel. It is similar to English /e/ in “debt”, but it is much longer. leva /`le:va/ (to live), veta /`ve:ta/ (to know, to be aware of).

/e/ is the short copy of /е:/. This sound is exactly the same as English /e/ in “debt” or “pen”. krets /’krets/ (circle, environment), penna /`phen:a/ (pen).

* /e/ is the short copy of /е:/. krets /’krets/ (circle, environment), penna /`pen:a/ (pen).

/ø:/ is identical to /е:/, but this vowel is rounded. Round your lips as if you wanted to say “no” and say “e-e-e-e-e-e”. This is the sound you need. möta /`mø:ta/ (to meet), lösa /`lø:sa/ (to solve, to untie).

* /ø:/ is identical to /е:/, but this vowel is rounded. möta /`mø:ta/ (to meet), lösa /`lø:sa/ (to solve, to untie).

/ɛ:/ is a long mid front unrounded vowel. The description is the same as for /e:/, but this vowel is different. To say it, you will have to drop you jaw a little bit. The difference is quite slight, and the terms to differentiate /e:/ and /ɛ:/ are “narrow” and “wide”. /ɛ:/ is actually quite similar to German “ä” in “Bär”. gräla /`grɛ:la/ (to quarrel, to shout), äta /`ɛ:ta/ (to eat).

* /ɛ:/ is a long mid front unrounded vowel. The description is the same as for /e:/, but this vowel is different. To say it, you will have to drop you jaw a little bit. The difference is quite slight, and the terms to differentiate /e:/ and /ɛ:/ are “narrow” and “wide”. gräla /`grɛ:la/ (to quarrel, to shout), äta /`ɛ:ta/ (to eat).

/ɛ/ is the short variant of /ɛ:/. Make the sound very short to get it right. väska /`vɛska/ (bag), känna /`ɕɛn:a/ (to know (someone), to feel).

* /ɛ/ is the short variant of /ɛ:/. Make the sound very short to get it right. väska /`vɛska/ (bag), känna /`ɕɛn:a/ (to know (someone), to feel).

/ə/ is simply a schwa. It is a weak variant of /e/ which appears in unstressed syllables. moder /’mu:dər/ (mother), mogen /’mu:gən/ (mature).

* /ə/ is simply a schwa. It is a weak variant of /e/ which appears in unstressed syllables. moder /’mu:dər/ (mother), mogen /’mu:gən/ (mature).

/ø/ is pronounced like /ɛ/, but some rounding is applied. önska /`ønska/ (to wish), öppna /`øpna/ (to open).

* /ø/ is pronounced like /ɛ/, but some rounding is applied. önska /`ønska/ (to wish), öppna /`øpna/ (to open).

/æ:/ is a variant of /ɛ:/ that occurs before “r”. This long vowel is an open front vowel and is very similar to the English vowel in the word “ran”. ära /`æ:ra/ (honor), stjärna /`ɧæ:ɳa/ (star).

* /æ:/ is a variant of /ɛ:/ that occurs before “r”. This long vowel is an open front vowel and is very similar to the English vowel in the word “ran”. ära /`æ:ra/ (honor), stjärna /`ɧæ:ɳa/ (star).

/æ/ is shorter than /æ:/. hjärta /`jæʈ:a/ (heart), värma /`værma/ (to heat up, to warm up).

* /æ/ is shorter than /æ:/. hjärta /`jæʈ:a/ (heart), värma /`værma/ (to heat up, to warm up).

/œ:/ is a variant of /ø:/ before “r”. Apply the very known rule: say /æ:/ with rounded lips. köra /`ɕœ:ra/ (to drive), göra /`jœ:ra / (to do, to make).

* /œ:/ is a variant of /ø:/ before “r”. Apply the very known rule: say /æ:/ with rounded lips. köra /`ɕœ:ra/ (to drive), göra /`jœ:ra / (to do, to make).

/œ/ is just the short equivalent for /œ:/. börja /`bœrja / (to begin).

* /œ/ is just the short equivalent for /œ:/. börja /`bœrja / (to begin).

/:/ is a long open back vowel. It is slightly rounded. This sound is similar to English /:/ in “father”. However, it is even deeper and closer to “o” in “pot” (like the way they say it in England). taga /`th:ga/ (to take), tala /`th:la/ (to speak, to talk).

* /a:/ is a long open back vowel. It is slightly rounded. This sound is similar to English /a:/ in “father”. However, it is even deeper and closer to “o” in “pot” (like the way they say it in England). taga /`ta:ga/ (to take), tala /`ta:la/ (to speak, to talk).

/a/ is a short open mid unrounded vowel. It is close to English “o” in “stop” (American variant). This sound is complicated for those speakers of English who tend to retract the “o” in “stop”. kan /’khan:/ (can), han /’han:/ (he).

* /a/ is a short open mid unrounded vowel. It is close to English “o” in “stop” (American variant). This sound is complicated for those speakers of English who tend to retract the “o” in “stop”. kan /’khan:/ (can), han /’han:/ (he).

/o:/ is a long (narrow) mid back rounded vowel. No actual approximation in English. The closest English sound is /ou/ in “boat”, but the Swedish vowel has no glide (remember there are no gliding vowels in Swedish?). This vowel is very similar to the corresponding German sound, like in the word “Boot”. fågel /’fo:gəl/ (bird), sova /`so:va/ (to sleep).

* /o:/ is a long (narrow) mid back rounded vowel. No actual approximation in English. The closest English sound is /ou/ in “boat”, but the Swedish vowel has no glide (remember there are no gliding vowels in Swedish?). This vowel is very similar to the corresponding German sound, like in the word “Boot”. fågel /’fo:gəl/ (bird), sova /`so:va/ (to sleep).

/ɔ/ is a short (wide) mid back rounded vowel. It is actually close to the English vowel /:/ in the word “boring”, but don’t forget to make it very short! lång /’lŋ/ (long), hålla /`hl:a/ (to hold).

* /ɔ/ is a short (wide) mid back rounded vowel. It is actually close to the English vowel /:/ in the word “boring”, but don’t forget to make it very short! lång /’lɔŋ/ (long), hålla /`hɔl:a/ (to hold).

/u:/ is a long close back rounded vowel. It resembles the English sound /u:/ in “two”. However, it is even closer and could even have a slight approximation to “w” at the very end. tro /’tru:/ (to believe, to trust), bo /’bu:/ (to live (about location)).

* /u:/ is a long close back rounded vowel. It resembles the English sound /u:/ in “two”. However, it is even closer and could even have a slight approximation to “w” at the very end. tro /’tru:/ (to believe, to trust), bo /’bu:/ (to live (about location)).

/ʊ/ is shorter than /u:/. Many Swedes also make it a little more lax. orm /’ʊrm/ (snake), ont /’ʊnt/ (badly).

* /ʊ/ is shorter than /u:/. Many Swedes also make it a little more lax. orm /’ʊrm/ (snake), ont /’ʊnt/ (badly).

/ʉ:/ is the most difficult Swedish vowel. It is a long (narrow) mid slightly retracted front rounded vowel. Actually, the position of the tongue is close to /e:/, but the whole tongue is retracted a bit. The lips are very tense and pressed to the teeth. You will have to practice this sound a lot to eventually get it right. fura /`f:ra/ (pine), ljus /’j:s/ (light).

* /ʉ:/ is the most difficult Swedish vowel. It is a long (narrow) mid slightly retracted front rounded vowel. Actually, the position of the tongue is close to /e:/, but the whole tongue is retracted a bit. The lips are very tense and pressed to the teeth. You will have to practice this sound a lot to eventually get it right. fura /`fʉ:ra/ (pine), ljus /’jʉ:s/ (light).

/ʉ/ is a short mid middle rounded vowel. It is even more retracted than /:/, and the lips are rounded, but not so tense. hund /’hnd/ (dog), lugn /’lŋn/ (calm).

* /ʉ/ is a short mid middle rounded vowel. It is even more retracted than /ʉ:/, and the lips are rounded, but not so tense. hund /’hʉnd/ (dog), lugn /’lʉŋn/ (calm).