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→Swedish Language
* /ŋ/ is a back voiced nasal consonant. It is actually nothing different from /ŋ/ (ng) in English. hänga /`hɛŋ:a/ (to hang), ring /riŋ:/ (a ring).
* /ŋ/ is a back voiced nasal consonant. It is actually nothing different from /ŋ/ (ng) in English. hänga /`hɛŋ:a/ (to hang), ring /riŋ:/ (a ring).
* /h/ is a fricative back voiceless consonant. It is said right the same way as “h” in English. hav /’hɑ:v/ (sea), het /’he:t/ (hot).
* /h/ is a fricative back voiceless consonant. It is said right the same way as “h” in English. hav /’hɑ:v/ (sea), het /’he:t/ (hot).
===Grammar===
Swedish grammar is relatively simple. During the process of it evolution, Swedish developed multiple analytic constructions as opposite to the old synthetic forms erased from the modern language and retained in fixed constructions, sayings, proverbs, as well as some highly scientific, formal, or religious texts etc..
====The Noun====
Swedish nouns are classifying according to gernder and declined according to number, case, and definiteness. There are two genders in Swedish - the Common gender and the Neuter gender. The Common gender stand for the old Masculine and Feminine which have lost grammatical differences. Actually, it is rarely logical which gender a noun belongs to. It is worth mentioning that the majority of Swedish nouns (about 80%) belong to the common gender. The neuter gender is thus typical for about one fourth of all words. From the actual form of a noun, it is almost never possible to predict the gender, so it should usually be memorized. However, sometimes, the meaning of a noun or its suffix / ending can help in defining the gender:
# all nouns ending in –are, -dom /-dʊm/, -het, -(n)ing, -tion /-’ɧu:n / are common;
# all words ending in –um, -eri /-ə’ri:/ are neuter;
# nouns deriving from verbs with the suffixes –ande / -ende are neuter (except they indicate an agent);
# all countries and cities are neuter;
# animated nouns (animal and human beings names) are often common;
# all compound words are gendered according to the last component.
The grammatical gender is usually expressed in declension endings, adjectives, pronouns, as well as other words accompanying a noun.
The category of case is controversial in Swedish. Some linguists tend to claim no cases in Swedish with the presence of syntactic possessive constructions. However, in most sources, it is still considered that Swedish nouns have two grammatical cases - the Common case and the Genitive case formed with an "-s" attached to the end of a noun after all its endings: "en pojke - en pojkes - pojken - pojkens :: a boy - a boy's - the boy - the boy's".
The category of number includes two items - singular and plural. There are six major types of plural formation in Swedish. Therefore, all nouns are classified as belonging to one of the six declensions:
=====1st Declension=====
This group includes all nouns of the common gender which end in an "-a" in the singular: "en skola - skolor" (school), "en mamma - mammor" (mom), "en klocka - klockor" (clock). These are the former weak feminine nouns. Some of them are still replaced with the pronoun "hon" (she), for example: "en människa - hon", "en klocka - hon", "en skona - hon" etc. Nouns in the first declension are declined as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Case / Form
! Indefinite Singular
! Definite Singular
! Indefinite Plural
! Definite Plural
|-
| Common
| skol-a
| skol-a-n
| skol-or
| sko-or-na
|-
| Genitive
| skol-a-s
| skol-a-n-s
| skol-or-s
| skol-or-na-s
|}
The definite form singular ends in "-n", and the definite form plural ends in "-na".
Some words that do not have an "-a" at the end also belong to the 1st declension: "en ros" (rose), "en våg" (wave), "en toffel" (slipper), "en svan" (swan, also 2nd declension optionally).
Two words in the first declension are neuter: "ett dilemma - dilemmor", "ett panorama - panoramor".
=====2nd Declension=====
This group includes a large ammount of Swedish common words (often monosyllabic or ending in an unstressed "-e"). In the past, these nouns were either masculine or feminine. Nouns in the second declension are declined as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Case / Form
! Indefinite Singular
! Definite Singular
! Indefinite Plural
! Definite Plural
|-
| Common
| orm pojk-e
| orm-en poj-e-n
| orm-ar pojk-ar
| orm-ar-na pojk-ar-na
|-
| Genitive
| orm-s pojk-e-s
| orm-en-s pojk-e-n-s
| orm-ar-s pojk-ar-s
| orm-ar-na-s pojk-ar-na-s
|}
Two nouns in the second group take umlaut in the plural: "en mo(de)r - mödrar" (mother), "en dotter - döttrar" (daughter).
=====3rd Declension=====
Most of the nouns in this declension are common and of foreign (usually Latin) origin. Here are a few examples: “en student – studenter” (student), “en idé – idéer” (idea), “en apparat – apparater” (gear).
Another group of nouns in this declension are of Swedish origin and usually have one syllable in the basic form (apply “-r” only if the word ends in a stressed vowel): “en tjej – tjejer” (girl), “en ko – kor” (cow), “en sko – skor” (shoe).
A number of neuter words of international origin also belong to the 3rd declension. Among them, you can find words in “-eri /ə’ri:/” denoting institutions, as well as words ending in stressed “-e” or words ending in “-um”: “ett tryckeri – tryckerier” (publisher), “ett kafé - kaféer” (café), “ett centrum - centrer” (center).
Here’s a list of suffixes which automatically define the third declension of a noun: “-het”, “-ist”, “-log”, “-nad”, “-när”, “-ör”, “-or”, “-ös”, “-else”, “-eri”, “-um” (“-um” is always dropped before the plural ending, just like before the definite singular form: “ett museum – museer”).
Note that those nouns from the third declension that end in an unstressed syllable “-or”, move the stress onto this syllable in the Plural: “en motor /`mu:tr/ - motorer /mʊ`tu:rər/” (motor).
Nouns in the third declension are declined as follows:
'''Common:'''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Case / Form
! Indefinite Singular
! Definite Singular
! Indefinite Plural
! Definite Plural
|-
| Common
| färg
| färg-en
| färg-er
| färg-er-na
|-
| Genitive
| färg-s
| färg-en-s
| färg-er-s
| färg-er-na-s
|}
'''Neuter:'''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Case / Form
! Indefinite Singular
! Definite Singular
! Indefinite Plural
! Definite Plural
|-
| Common
| tryckeri
| tryckeri-(e)t
| tryckeri-er
| tryckeri-er-na
|-
| Genitive
| tryckeri-s
| tryckeri-(e)t-s
| tryckeri-er-s
| tryckeri-er-na-s
|}
Some words in the third declension take umlaut in the plural form: “en strand - stränder” (shore, coast, beach), “ett land - länder” (country, land), “en tand - tänder” (tooth), “en bok - böcker” (book), “en and – änder” (duck), “en bokstav – bokstäver” (letter, print), “en bonde – bönder”, “en fot – fötter” (foot), “en hand - händer” (hand), “en ledamot – ledamöter” (member), “en natt – nätter” (night), “en rand – ränder” (edge), “en rot – rötter” (root), “en son /so:n/ – söner” (son), “en stad – städer” (city, town), “en stång – stänger” (pole).
=====4th Declension=====
The fourth declension includes neuter nouns that end in vowels. This group is not very large and it consists of originally Germanic words only. Nouns in the fourth declension are declined as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Case / Form
! Indefinite Singular
! Definite Singular
! Indefinite Plural
! Definite Plural
|-
| Common
| knä
| knä-(e)t
| knä-n
| knä-n-a
|-
| Genitive
| knä-s
| knä-(e)t-s
| knä-n-s
| knä-n-a-s
|}
=====5th Declension=====
The fifth declension is a large group of nouns including first of all those neuter nouns that end in a consonant. For example: “ett bord – bord” (table), “ett torn – torn” (tower), “ett universitet – universitet” (university), “ett tak – tak” (roof, ceiling).
To the fifth declension, there also belongs a group of common nouns ending in “-are” or “-er” and indincating professions or agents: “en arbetare – arbetare” (worker), “en mekaniker – mekaniker” (mechanic), “en invandrare – invandrare” (immigrant).
A small group of common nouns take no ending in the Plural, but they change their stem vowel (umlaut): “en bro(de)r – bröder” (brother), “en fa(de)r – fäder” (father), “en gås – gäss” (goose), “en man – män” (man), “en mus – möss” (mouse).
Nouns in the fifth declension are declined as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Case / Form
! Indefinite Singular
! Definite Singular
! Indefinite Plural
! Definite Plural
|-
| Common
| bord
| bord-et
| bord
| bord-en
|-
| Genitive
| bord-s
| bord-et-s
| bord-s
| bord-en-s
|}
[[Category: Germanic languages]]
[[Category: Germanic languages]]