Swedish language

Swedish Language

The Swedish language (Svenska [`svɛnska]) is a Germanic language, spoken in Sweden and by ethnic Swedes in Finland, where it is also an official language. It is related to Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faeroese. It is remarkable that the structure of Modern Swedish is much different from the one in the ancient times. The systems of declension and conjugation have gone through a tough process of simplification, which nowadays makes Swedish easy to learn in comparison with Icelandic or German, for example. Having borrowed a relatively large amount of words from other European languages, Swedish has, however, saved most old lexemes, which makes it very similar to other Scandinavian languages.

History

The history of Swedish names 5 main periods: Runic Swedish (800-1225), Classic Old Swedish (1225-1375), Old Swedish (1375-1526), New Swedish (1526-1732), Modern Swedish (since 1732).

Orthography

Swedish uses the Latin alphabet with three additional letters: Åå, Ää, Öö. The letter Åå has been used since 1948, and it replaced the digraph aa, which is still possible in some old fashioned newspapers and old Scandinavian surnames. The letters q, z, and w are not typical for originally Swedish words, and are usually used in borrowings. However, q can be approached in some Swedish surnames (Lagerqvist, for example). Unlike English, Swedish writing evolved simultaneously with the language itself. Thus, modern Swedish spelling is adequate to the way the words actually sound.

The most notable deviation from this is the letter Oo which represents four vowels– /u:/, /ʊ/, /o:/, /ɔ/. Also, a number of archaic spellings are still retained, such as gj, lj, dj, hj with the first sound being mute.

Phonetics and Phonology

There are 17 vowels (with 23 variants overall) and 23 consonants in Swedish. The phonetic system of modern Swedish is typically Scandinavian and is closest to Norwegian. The main features of Swedish phonetics, which are not found in English, are:

1. phonological opposition of long and short vowels. This is not typical for modern English. This term stands for pairs of vowels which are identical and differ in length only.
2. Phonological opposition of labialized and non-labialized vowels. In simple words, a labialized vowel is a vowel that is pronounced with the lips rounded (like “u” in “tune”). In Swedish, there are pairs of vowels that differ only in labialization: att meta (to catch) – att möta (to meet).
3. Total absence of diphthongs (gliding vowels like in English “time”). This fact is unique for the whole Germanic group.
4. Long consonants after short vowels. This reflects the so called syllabic balance (see below). The actual behavior is implied in any consonant doubled and said long after a short stressed vowel: hiss /his:/ (elevator), finna /`fin:a/ (to find).
5. 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 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). /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). /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 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). /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). /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 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). /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 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 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 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). /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). /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). /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 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).