Swedish/Alphabet: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 04:46, 5 July 2009

File:Sv-alphabet.ogg The Swedish alphabet contains 29 letters:

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Åå Ää Öö

Notes
The last three letters, Å, Ä, and Ö, are regarded as distinct letters, separate from A and O. Whereas in English you might use the term "A - Z", in Swedish it would be "A - Ö". Unlike in English, Y is always a vowel, except in the case of some loanwords. W has not been included in the Swedish alphabet for a long time, but since 2006 the Swedish Academy considers W as a seperate letter. However, this is not fully accepted in dictionaries and other instances yet.

Special Characters

On a PC:

Alt+0229 = å
Alt+0197 = Å
Alt+0228 = ä
Alt+0196 = Ä
Alt+0246 = ö
Alt+0214 = Ö

On a Mac:

Option+a = å
Option+A = Å
Option+u to get ¨ then type a = ä
Option+u to get ¨ then type A = Ä
Option+u to get ¨ then type o = ö
Option+u to get ¨ then type O = Ö

If you don't manage to get these characters, the standard way is to substitute å with aa, ä with ae, and ö with oe. ǎ

The Vowels

Vowels are divided into hard and soft vowels:

The hard vowels are: a o u å

The soft vowels are: e i y ä ö

When reading new Swedish words you should pay attention to whether the vowels are short or long. Each vowel has both a long and a short phonetic variant. The basic rule is that a vowel is short if it is followed by more than one consonant.

Examples of words with long vowels:

Tal, sko, lur, vår, stel, bil, dyr, säl, öl

Examples of words with short vowels:

Tall, troll, surr, sånt, tenn, svinn, pynt, fält, trött

The Consonants

Most consonants can be doubled. k, is doubled with ck (Like in rock n' roll.) The consonant c, sounds like s when not combined with k (Like the first c in bicycle). C does not occur doubled. z, q, and w are very uncommon letters but are used in family and company names. m is not doubled at end of words with two exceptions: lamm, damm

Examples of words with doubled consonants:

flabb, ledd, klaff, ragg, back, pall, damm, spinn, kupp, pirr, triss, titt

Initial g and k
If the first letter in a word is g this letter is pronounced j if the next letter is a soft vowel.
If the first letter in a word is k this letter is pronounced sh (like in ship) if the next letter is a soft vowel.

Stress

Normally the stress is put on the first vowel. The tonality is important in Swedish.

Tonality

Both nita and niten has the stress on the vowel i. However the tonality differs.

Exercise

Pronounce the following Swedish words.

1. skal, sno, tur, kår, ven, mil, syl, när, bör

2. stall, stopp, lupp, sådd, ett, stins, skyll, ärr, börs

3. vara, bliva, heta, kallas, äta, dricka, festa, leka

4. bilen, vägen, äpplet, trädet, smaken, tiken

5. kal, kotte, kul, kål, gam, gott, gurka, gås

6. ge, gick, gylf, Gävle, gök, kedja, kil, kyl, käk, kök

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Uncategorized}}
+[[File:Sv-alphabet.ogg|The Swedish alphabet.|right|thumb]]
-<!--This particular lesson is in need of a comprehensive pronunciation guide. Any contributions will be appreciated!-->
+The Swedish alphabet contains 29 letters:
+Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Åå Ää Öö
-Return to ''[[Introduction to Swedish]]''.
-----
-The Swedish alphabet contains 28 letters:
-Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Xx Yy Zz Åå Ää Öö
 '''Notes'''</br>
-The last three letters, Å, Ä, and Ö, are regarded as distinct letters, separate from A and O. Whereas in English you might use the term "A - Z", in Swedish it would be "A - Ö". Unlike in English, Y is always a vowel, except in the case of some loanwords. For a time, W was part of the alphabet, treated as a variation of V, but it is no longer a part of it (it is still used however, in some loanwords).
+The last three letters, Å, Ä, and Ö, are regarded as distinct letters, separate from A and O. Whereas in English you might use the term "A - Z", in Swedish it would be "A - Ö". Unlike in English, Y is always a vowel, except in the case of some loanwords. W has not been included in the Swedish alphabet for a long time, but since 2006 the Swedish Academy considers W as a seperate letter. However, this is not fully accepted in dictionaries and other instances yet.
+__NOTOC__
 ==Special Characters==
+[[Image:Lange Jan.jpg|The light house "Långe Jan" at the south end of Öland island.|thumb]]
 '''On a PC:'''
@@ Line 21: / Line 16: @@
 Alt+0197 = Å</br>
 Alt+0228 = ä</br>
 Alt+0196 = Ä</br>
 Alt+0246 = ö</br>
@@ Line 37: / Line 29: @@
 Option+u to get ¨ then type O = Ö<br />
-If you don't manage to get these characters the standard way is to substiture '''å''' with '''aa''', '''ä''' with '''ae''', and '''ö''' with '''oe'''.
+If you don't manage to get these characters, the standard way is to substitute '''å''' with '''aa''', '''ä''' with '''ae''', and '''ö''' with '''oe'''.
+ǎ
 ==The Vowels==
-Vovels are divided into hard and soft vovels:
+Vowels are divided into hard and soft vowels:
 ''The hard vowels are:''
@@ Line 48: / Line 41: @@
 e i y ä ö
-When reading new Swedish words you should pay attention to if the vovels are short or long.
+When reading new Swedish words you should pay attention to whether the vowels are short or long.
-Each vovel has both a long and a short phonetic variant. The basic rule is that a vovel is short if it is followed by more than one consonant.
+Each vowel has both a long and a short phonetic variant. The basic rule is that a vowel is short if it is followed by more than one consonant.
 '''Examples of words with long vowels:'''
@@ Line 59: / Line 52: @@
 ''Tall, troll, surr, sånt, tenn, svinn, pynt, fält, trött''
-==The Consonats==
+==The Consonants==
-Most cononants can be doubled.''
+Most consonants can be doubled.''
 '''k''', is doubled with '''ck''' (Like in rock n' roll.)
 The consonant '''c''', sounds like '''s''' when not combined with '''k''' (Like the first c in bicycle). '''C''' does not occur doubled.
-'''z''', '''q''', and '''w''' are very uncommon letters but are used in names.
+'''z''', '''q''', and '''w''' are very uncommon letters but are used in family and company names.
-m is not doubled at end of words with some exceptions.
+''m'' is not doubled at end of words with two exceptions: ''lamm, damm''
 '''Examples of words with doubled consonants:'''
 ''flabb, ledd, klaff, ragg, back, pall, damm, spinn, kupp, pirr, triss, titt''
+'''Initial g and k'''<br>
+''If the first letter in a word is '''g''' this letter is pronounced '''j''' if the next letter is a soft vowel.<br>
+''If the first letter in a word is '''k''' this letter is pronounced '''sh''' (like in ship) if the next letter is a soft vowel.<br>
 ==Stress==
-Normaly the stress is put on the first vowel. The tonality is important in Swedish.
+Normally the stress is put on the first vowel. The tonality is important in Swedish.
 ==Tonality==
@@ Line 89: / Line 86: @@
 . ''bilen, vägen, äpplet, trädet, smaken, tiken''
+. ''kal, kotte, kul, kål, gam, gott, gurka, gås''
+. ''ge, gick, gylf, Gävle, gök, kedja, kil, kyl, käk, kök''
-[[Category:Introductions]]
+[[Category:Language introductions]]
 [[Category:Swedish]]
+[[Category:Alphabets]]

wikademia>Wikademia