The Swedish SJ Sound, Part 1: Pronunciations

What are the different pronunciations of the SJ sound? And how to make them? This video gives the answer, in depth.
This is part 1 of 3 in a series about the Swedish SJ sound.
Part 2, Usage: • The Swedish SJ Sound, ...
Part 3, Spelling: • The Swedish SJ Sound, ...
RELATED VIDEOS
Swedish: The tj sound
• Swedish: The tj sound
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Thanks to Dr. Daniel Currie Hall for the base images of the mouth in cross section, from his Interactive Sagittal Section (smu-facweb.smu....!
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[@JAEWON1791]

This is the clearest explanation I've ever watched on KZbin

[@dandan7884]

I'm studying swedish through Duolingo and I've noticed that sometimes the "SJ" sound changed, but I didn't know why. Excellent video! Going to part 2!

[@FedorSteeman]

Shanene Larissa This is why I stopped using Duolingo. It never explains things.

[@maxiemo8675]

@@FedorSteeman what do you use now?

[@Debre.]

@@FedorSteeman Just click on a skill, then click on the lightbulb icon and voilà, there you have your explanations.

[@kontext5338]

Can you give some example where sj is different?

[@frank_calvert]

@@Debre. It's never good tho

[@beanie_baby_snail]

Hi! I’m a native Swedish speaker and I find these types of videos really interesting! It’s super cool to see things pointed out that I’ve never thought of before. For anyone who wants a little challenge for this sound here is a tongue twister: “Sju sjösjuka sjömen sköttes av sju sköna sjuksköterskor på det sjunkande skeppet Shanghai” (translation: Seven sea sick sailors were treated by seven beautiful nurses on the sinking ship Shanghai)

[@Arqui3D]

This video series is incredibly well put together. I'm finally starting to understand the difference between phonemic and phonetic. Thank you very much!

[@rpvd5066]

Why does Swedish have to be an easy yet also complicated language?! 😍 Always puzzles me why some people pronounce sju as "chú" and some as "shú". But I am beginning to understand it better. Lovely language and country though, just as all Scandinavian countries, very interesting. Tack så mycket!

[@vberl9573]

RP VD Swedish has a lot of rules for the language but we disregard a lot of them when speaking. A lot of words don’t really match up completely as expected from people learning the languages

[@Mosesch234]

Now we know, why you were gone for so long. I am very glad that you made new videos - they are really appreciated.

[@AcademiaCervena]

Thank you for saying so! I'm glad that you enjoy them :)

[@arthurvilain7270]

Thank you so much ! I just started learning Swedish and I was really struggling to understand that sound ! My textbook described it (no kidding) as "the french CH but with a Brussel sprout in your mouth". It wasn't exactly an helpful description, and whenever someone would pronounce it out loud, I would hear it as a weird ʁ rather than anything vaguely resembling a ʃ sound. Now I can not only FINALLY pronounce it, I also understand why it was so confusing. My textbook was basically (badly) describing the front SJ sound, while the people I heard were using the back version. And to me it sounded like a weird ʁ, because it is basically articulated in the same place. Just unvoiced (so χ), and less intense / raspy.

[@AcademiaCervena]

Thank you for your comment! I'm glad to have been able to help :) That looks like a perfect example of the kind of unhelpful (and in this case frankly stupid) pronunciation guides that you often find in textbooks! (Btw, on a more technical level, [ʁ] and [χ] are pronounced slightly further back in the mouth than [x] and [ɧ])

[@Lausanamo]

​​@@AcademiaCervenaBut what is the difference between [x] and sj?

[@yds2m]

I hate it when textbooks use other languages as examples because I don't speak those languages 😭

[@ashlabelle]

THANK YOU! I'm currently learning Swedish from Duolingo (quarantine lol, yay 2020) and this sound is one of the things that are driving me crazy.

[@Nowpinion]

I mix these two sounds depending on the word. I never use just one of the sounds exclusively. “Sju” and “Skina” are always pronounced differently from “Duscha” and “Garage”. I find this to be the norm in Stockholm. The exclusive use of either sound seems to be more common on the west coast and in the north.

[@Geospasmic]

This is a wonderful, thorough resource, I'm so glad students have this kind of stuff available! Tack så mycket!

[@jangelbrich7056]

Per-fekt!! Jag behövde precis den här video att förklara för mina vänner som lär sig Svenska hur det här hänger ihop. Jag kunde aldrig förklara detta så bra som du!

[@SustainedDissonance]

I've been waiting ages for a new video from you - awesome!

[@AcademiaCervena]

Den som väntar på något gott väntar aldrig för länge :) (All good things to those who wait; lit. The one who waits for something good, never waits too long)

[@bob677videos7]

I an actually from Sweden and Swedish is my native language so it’s kind cool when people make videos about my native language! :)

[@MenelionFR]

Thank you for covering all of the pronunciations. I've even started writing an arguing comment, until you described the what you called doubly-articulated back SJ-sound. I'm not a native speaker, but for me that sound is far more beautiful and more… harmonious, than the first [x]-like back sound you described. As a speaker of Ukrainian and Russian, I have no problems making the [x] sound at all. but the doubly-articulated one seems to me more pleasant, although more challenging to pronounce.

[@brittanymartin1980]

I may be weird, but the back sj sound is easier and more pleasant. This video is very informative, thank you!

[@AcademiaCervena]

Thank you! I'm glad that you liked it!

[@Apeshaft]

Jesus! Swedish is complicated when you put it like this! Very cool though. But I now speak rinkebysvenska leeeen! Thanks a lot mannen!

[@jaroslavlosos5498]

Love how the video begins with a very Swedish pronounciation of "first" at 0:11. This is what I'm trying to get used to - to pronounce "s" nearly as /sh/ after "r" - especially tricky not to forget this after the previous word ends with "-r".

[@silasbrainard2987]

I would like to point out that I believe the rougher sound you described as /x/, a velar fricative, is actually /χ/, a uvular fricative, as you pronounced it. There is confusion about this as the other commenter +Maire Ci touched on. This is probably why /χ/ felt too far back in the throat compared to /ɧ/, because it actually is farther back in the throat, at the uvula, not the velum. The uvula is where that sort of trilling raspiness can come from, whereas it is impossible to make that gargling trill sound farther forward in the velar position, where /k/, /x/ and /ɧ/ are formed. In Spanish, for example, both the sounds /x/ and /χ/ are possible pronunciations of the letter j, with /χ/ (uvular) used in Peninsular Spanish (in Spain) and /x/ (velar) used in some other regions, such as Mexican Spanish. The Mexican pronunciation of j is a velar fricative, which is very soft, not rough like a uvular fricative, yet it is still quite distinct from /ɧ/. Here is a short youtube clip, demonstrating the pronunciation of the voiceless velar fricative /x/ as it is found in a word in Mexican Spanish, kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWWzlWtmfb6sgcU . I'm sure you can hear that it is very distinct from the Swedish sj sound, but it is not rougher than it. To me, true /x/ sounds even smother than the sj sound. So there must be more to the Swedish sound than just a softer velar fricative. I am a Swedish learner, and I am able to produce the /ɧ/ sound to the satisfaction of native speakers, but I don't know exactly what I do to make the sound, although I know it is not just a softer /x/. I agree with you that /ɧ/ is not a /x/ and a /ʃ/ pronounced simultaneously, but it is more complicated than just a velar fricative. To me it seems almost like a sibilant velar fricative, because it does seem to involve air hitting my lower teeth, but it is possible I'm pronouncing it wrong. I guess you can look into that if you want. There's clearly a lot of variation in it's pronunciation, as you got into, but no matter how you look at it, it is a very unique and peculiar sound. Thank you so much for these videos. I think your careful explanations of pronunciation and your use of IPA are really cool and useful, and are some of the best resources. Also, did you learn English as a second language? Because any accent is hardly detectable. Thanks again, and I hope you can take this into consideration

[@AcademiaCervena]

Thank you for your comment! I'm glad you found my videos interesting! First off, both velar and uvular fricatives can have that 'raspy/gargly' quality. My guess as to why the sound /x/ is often made slightly further back is because the soft palate (velum) is more involved, whereas the non-raspy /ɧ/ (like I believe /k/) is made at the edge between the soft and hard palate. But that's just my own speculation. In any case, velar /x/ and uvular /χ/ are definitely distinct, even when both are gargly :) The Mexican allophone I must admit I hadn't heard before. My first guess would be that it's a pre-velar/palatal allophone of /x/ in the front vowel context! Listening to Mexicans pronouncing words like _jamón_ or _caja_ it definitely has a more /x/ quality to it, from what I can hear! I suppose I should read up on Spanish phonology! There is a Swedish linguist who wrote a thesis about the sj sound, and the compared /ɧ/ and /x/ on spectrograms to find that the only difference between them lied in their intensity. Much of my more technical analysis is based on his findings! And yes, English is a second language for me! Thank you for the compliment :)

[@ryuko4478]

@@AcademiaCervena I'm still pretty sure your */x/ is actually a uvular fricative, while you can make a velar fricative a bit raspy you cannot make it as raspy as you do it without at least coarticulating it uvularly. here is an example of a German speaker saying with a velar fricative instead of a uvular one: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:De-Buch.ogg

[@wilhelmsandelinanton1777]

This is a great and informative video, even though I'm not really sure why I'm watching it since I already know Swedish... Anyways, I'm from Västerbotten which is in the north of Sweden. Generally I would say that my accent isn't that thick, and a lot of people think that I come from around the Stockholm region (which is generally considered to be where standard Swedish is spoken). There is however one dead giveaway: I only ever use the front sj-sound. I never thought about it before but I think it's actually very typical for people living in northern Sweden to do so. Interesting :)

[@levloggereuse]

you seriously are the best, I struggled so much with this and now it all dawned on me, it makes so much sense! Lovely video and explanation, you sure know your stuff! Have a good day sir!

[@AcademiaCervena]

Good to hear that I'm achieving what I set out to do :) Thank you for your comment!

[@6teenify]

i want to marry this video its so amazing, thank you so much, i've been using the frontal one all this time just because i wasnt sure how to get the back one right

[@AcademiaCervena]

Thank you very much for your kind comment! I'm glad to have helped! :)

[@Omkuskom]

I'm currently learning Swedish and your videos are very helpful :)

[@新藤実幸]

finally! a helpful video about the confusing pronounciation! ty!

[@kanaumihisui]

This is soo wonderful! Arigatōō! I had seen nothing like this video. The most infamous pulmonic sound ever heard of. I was glad I wouldn't have to learn it, but after half of this video I got the feeling that I can pronounce it. Welsh Ll was nothing compared to /ɧ/, I thought. And now you taught me within 6 minutes. I'm amazed! Gotta watch the following parts, too, of course.

[@AcademiaCervena]

Thank you for your kind words! The hype surrounding /ɧ/ lives on, entirely unnecessarily! It's a misunderstanding that got way out of hand.

[@xolang]

actually the back sj sound reminds me of the pronunciation of フ in Japanese.

[@yds2m]

I exhaled so many times while watching this video that I've become lightheaded and dizzy 😂 but i can finally make this noise! Tack så mycket!!

[@larssjodahl7660]

Wow, excellent. I initially thought you had missed the Scanian way of pronouncing it because I didn't recognize it in your initial categorisation into 2 main types, but then you covered, and nicely explained and demonstrated, the variations right at the end. Saving this video as a favorite, to help people pronounce my name... :)

[@takozz2197]

I was going to add this video to my 'watch later' playlist but accidentally got into it! thank you

[@romanovscott8789]

Your methods do really really help, U R amazing! Thanks a lot!

[@be2859]

I should note that in some languages the classic velar fricative is pronounced with quite less friction than you do. For example, in Russian, it's quite "weak", quite similar to how you do the Swedish sje-sound. On the other hand, in Mandarin or Mongolian it is very "strong". Or the Korean aspirated /kʰ/ which really is /kx/ after back vowels. So it does vary a lot. I also noticed that second learners of those languages with /x/ tend to excessively over-articulate it, while in fast speech produced by natives everything gets neutralised, as you know.

[@poblazewicz]

Your swedish lessons are amazing. Thanks to you, i finally manage to spell SJ sound in both variants! Tack så mycket :)

[@AcademiaCervena]

Thank you for saying so, I'm glad to have helped! :)

[@mmzddx96]

5:41 hallelujah! I LOVE THIS METHOD!

[@csweezey18]

FINALLY, A GOOD EXPLANATION! I CAN PRONOUNCE IT NOW!

[@drazlet]

Damn, I was way overthinking this. It’s funny, I got it completely right before I read up on it more, but then when I learned more I overthought it and started to mispronounce it. Tack så mycket!

[@xolang]

I read that Swedish is a living evidence of how sh-sound can turn into kh-sound, just like what happened in Spanish centuries ago, which explains why Xavier came to be pronounced as "khabier" in Modern Spanish although it originally was pronounced as "shavier", which is still the case in Catalan and Portuguese. Another example is the Pashto language, which is pronounced as "Pashto" in the western dialects, but as "Pakhto" in the central and eastern dialects.

[@pingoleonfernandez7638]

In old spanish books (back in the conquistadors era) you can read "enxemplos" (examples) and that word today is "ejemplos". In geographical names you can find a lot of examples: México/Méjico Texas/Tejas.

[@Graaskaegg]

I'm from Västerbotten originally and in our dialect the sj-sound is always frontal. When foreigners sometimes have problems with the back sound I just say you can learn a northern "flavoured" Swedish . Just remember to keep it distinction from tj-sound.

[@Manpeace]

I use the back sj-sound [ɧ] for everything. I'm from south-eastern Sweden (Kalmar, Småland). I have never found myself using the front [ʂ]-sound, but everyone else is in Stockholm.

[@CalvinKrause]

I always tried to pronounce it at sh and ch simultaneously and got confused when I actually heard the sound, because it sounds so different. Thanks for explaining :)

[@CalvinKrause]

+Calvin Krause btw how many languages do you speak? Your English, Swedish, German all sound perfect!

[@AcademiaCervena]

+Calvin Krause Thank you! It's a real shame that the sh+ch explanation is so widespread, since it's really based on absolutely nothing (it's not a historical pronunciation either). As for your question, I usually say that I'm able to speak Swedish, English, French, German and Norwegian :)

[@SuperShadowP1ay]

This clears so much up...

[@sdfdsv]

awesomely detailed

[@AcademiaCervena]

Thank you! I personally hate details and technicalities being left out when studying languages, so I always try to be as throrough as possible when explaining things myself :)

[@Daedalus-ed5nd]

The thing is that there is no "one" way of pronouncing these sounds in Sweden. It is very dialectal. For example where I'm from we pronounce "sju" and "skina" with the second (voiceless velar fricative), very similar to the russian "x" (or "h", "kh"). Also there are at least three "sj"-sounds, excluding "tj" in my dialect alone. That aside, this is a good video, and you would be understood pretty much anywhere following the examples therein.

[@peggykotoh]

This is so informative and very intricate indeed!! Loving it :-)

[@gramail2009]

Astonishing,. What a master class!

[@jvlixa]

i lost a bet and now have to say “sju sjuka sjuksköterskor är ute på en sjö i ett skepp” and post it publicly for all my swedish irl and online friends to see and judge me for so this will rlly help thanks

[@Mantramurtim]

Jag växte upp i östra Värmland och skiljer på "kärna" med frontalt sj ljud och "stjärna" med lateralt, men min exfru från Karlstad och hennes dotter hade frontalt sj-ljud på bägge!

[@moniomoniz4313]

Could you, please, talk about the retroflexes [ɖ ɭ ɳ ʂ ʈ] ? Tack så mycket!

[@AcademiaCervena]

I can, and I will! I just don't know when yet...

[@Ida-xe8pg]

Funny thing is that my nativlang has all of them which u have mentioned but Its not a IE language

[@stellahillman7667]

Thank you for this helpful video. Swedish is my second mother tung and I am still struggling with this sound.

[@dragonroise]

I really appreciate your videos since SFI is not so thorough

[@weddie24]

But you hit the questions I had about what I had observed. Great.

[@Officialhelpkenet]

I find that I use the front sj-sound when it's root-final, as in garage and duscha, while I use the f-like one when it's is root-initial.

[@ramzy-6566]

amazing video.

[@happyplayproundfrien]

ive learnt how to whistle after this

[@KaeofEventide]

Rofl same

[@Correctrix]

So, it seems that the back sound is just a /x/ with less friction, pronounced more fortis (resulting in audible aspiration) in order to make up for that lesser friction. Plus optional labial articulation. Sounds doable.

[@AcademiaCervena]

Essentially, yes. The choice of using /ɧ/ is more by convention than by actual need-/x/ would have done the job just fine. The pro is you get a symbol to remind everyone of the difference in friction, the con is that everyone seems to believe it's some super weird sound (such as the /ʃx/ co-articulation myth).

[@MyrteKhadr]

Aah so cool to hear the second sj sound. Its sounds like an soft dutch g. Idk how to translate it.

[@lilihajek1990]

Thanks so much for this very methodical video! I'm a native mandarin speaker and I think our "h" is almost exactly the same as the back "sj", it's not the German Buch or the Spanish Javier (in Spain). In the Chinese word for "hao" h gives a clear passage of air, without any friction whatsoever, which gives me the impression of being almost the same as the back "sj". Just a personal observation. I'm no linguist, just a language buff :-)

[@AcademiaCervena]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it :) As far as I know, Mandarin 'h' is supposed to be the same sound as Spanish 'j' and German (back) 'ch', but maybe there is some variation going on? From my personal experience with Mandarin, it is not my impression that its 'h' is the same as the Swedish back 'sj' sound either! From a linguistic point of view, friction is present in all of the above sounds :) It doesn't necessarily need to involve a more "gargly" sound, which I'm thinking you might be thinking of when you say 'friction'?

[@lilihajek1990]

Thanks for the reply! I speak Spanish (with a continental "lisp" :-))) and I had real problems with "j" in the early stage of my study, since I had no clue how to use the uvular part (I assume that's where all cool sounds are produced) to blockade the airflow. I also noticed in Latin American countries this "Jorge" is way less prominent as in its continental counterpart, but still somehow harder than the Chinese "h", especially when "h" is followed by "e" and in first tone such as "he喝”, when "h" is almost a clean breath of air, but it's a bit less so when followed by "ao" for example and in the third and fourth tone, such as in "hao好" or "hao号", but then again these "h"s are very different than the Spanish "j", at least in the continental version. As to the German "Buch", it seems similar enough to "Jorge", at least to my ears (although my teacher didn't exactly explain to us how it should sound). Well, I do notice the back Swedish "sj" comes with rounded lips and from a bit back in the mouth. If my observation is correct, then it's different from the Chinese "h", since it's very frontal (I'm not big on linguistic terms, I mean using the front part of the mouth), like most of the sounds in Mandarin. Well again, your videos are awesome! Here in Hungary, language schools usually don't teach us pronunciations, maybe they assume Hungarian has all the consonants and vowels of the world covered already. I signed up for a beginner Swedish course, hope it starts, then I will share what's my teacher's take on this famous (or infamous, ha!) consonant :-))). Cheers!

[@xolang]

I read that Swedish is a living evidence of how sh-sound can turn into kh-sound, just like what happened in Spanish centuries ago, which explains why Xavier came to be pronounced as "khabier" (and often written as Javier) in Modern Spanish although it originally was pronounced as "shavier", which is still the case in Catalan and Portuguese. Another example is the Pashto language, which is pronounced as "Pashto" in the western dialects, but as "Pakhto" in the central and eastern dialects.

[@lingux_yt]

I have never heard of apical x laminal! Gotta study a little more :-) Many thanks for your reply, and thanks for the video, it's great

[@meridesiree7940]

I pronounce some words like 'sju' and 'skina' with the second sj sound instead of the first, and find it pretty funny when people to the opposite bc mostly old people do it. So i'd say it depends on where you're from (i'm from Västmanland, Västerås to be specific).

[@linusfotograf]

I just realised I use a front SJ sound for some words and the back one for others.

[@rip1979]

the best video ever

[@runnerelken9751]

Very helpful, Tack!

[@manidk9891]

i cant believe it i actually did it lmao. thank you man

[@yere7851]

In Finland we pronounce sj like sh and kj like tsh/ch, or at least that's how it's taught at school

[@benavraham4397]

Do you suppose that the English - gh like in "laugh" got its "f" pronunciation in a process similar to the final "sj" you described?

[@AcademiaCervena]

Yep!

[@mujjingun]

Nice video!

[@AcademiaCervena]

Thank you!

[@sotis1190]

I'm Swedish, why am I watching this

[@brokendrug]

I am a Scanian and im interested in linguistics and i've solved which soundi make in the ipa /ɸ͡xˠ/ or something like that

[@XPK15]

Tack så mycket!

[@will_2320]

The “voiceless velar fricative” - what you were pronouncing, although a little on the labial side - is in fact /x/, not /ɧ/. The consonant /ɧ/ is still definitely the coarticulation /ʃ͡x/. The “normal velar fricative” you were pronouncing is actually what’s called a voiceless uvular fricative: /χ/.

[@fspo1112]

Wow the back Sj sound is literally a velar sibilant, which many linguists thought was an impossible sound to make.

[@fspo1112]

Pivos Pivepic because it’s not /x/ yet it’s a velar fricative pronounced with closed teeth and the tongue seems to hit the roof of the mouth, both of which define a sibilant when compared to a non-sibilant fricative.

[@flaviospadavecchia5126]

I would love to see your sources, because I don't agree with the other comments you wrote down here. When you pronounce the "strong" friction intensity, you are describing /χ/ (found in German, Castilian Spanish and so on), while the "weak" version is /x/ (found in Mexican Spanish and so on). The Swedish back SJ sound is basically just /x/ with rounded lips. Have a Mexican say "Juan" and any Swedish person would think its "sjan/skjan" or something.

[@merrymerryjerry6736]

turns out my velars have been the 'Swedish variation' for a while. So are Xidnaf's

[@kenyip2841]

Hej! Thank you for your lesson! I have a question : Do you round your lips when you pronounce /ɧ/? Because at 6:08, 'skina' sounds like /ɧʷi:na/ to me.

[@AcademiaCervena]

I generally don't, but it does happen on occasion (of the weaker kind). I don't believe I pronounced it with rounded lips in your example, though! :)

[@Saturinus]

I would say that the sje sound with rounded lips is the most common pronounciation (so something like [xʷ]), and that all the words in the part you mentioned were pronounced like that.

[@AcademiaCervena]

I assure you that the lip rounding in that sequence is minor at the very most.

[@SoetZenas]

I think it depends on dialects. In Northland you would pronounce with the tip of the tongue and if you are from the south you would usually pronounce with the back of the tongue. At least me.

[@AcademiaCervena]

That's what part 2 is about :)

[@arthursimsa9005]

Could you please explain when/where/by whom the variant /ɧfw/ is used? Thank you so much! And thanks for your great videos:)

[@AcademiaCervena]

It's most common in the south of Sweden; it's mentioned in the second video :)

[@dontenty5643]

Förlåt asså men jag kan knappt säga t.ex "sju" med slutet av tungan. Men eftersom du är experten så frågar jag: Är det för jag har vuxit upp i Göteborg, är det för min pappas släkt är i Norrland, eller är det för min mammas släkt är från Halland och Småland?

[@ilyakogan]

As a Russian native speaker, we pronounce x like in Swedish, definitely not raspy like in German or Scottish. And I know it because I'm also a native speaker of Hebrew, and in Hebrew it is raspy like in German.

[@Mrpallekuling]

I expected some train sounds (SJ=Statens Järnvägar, The State Railways)

[@VicariousReality7]

SJ goes choo choo

[@gunnarthegumbootguy7909]

Nowadays you sometimes hear people pronouncing it with /x/, mostly first and second generation immigratnts in immigrant dense suburbs, and even by the few swedish youth living in the same areas. "ja ska va där klokan khoo" "min mamma är khook-khöterska"

[@helmaschine1885]

Yep, and it sounds awful Like they're trying to cough up phlegm.

[@xolang]

I read that Swedish is a living evidence of how sh-sound can turn into kh-sound, just like what happened in Spanish centuries ago, which explains why Xavier came to be pronounced as "khabier" in Modern Spanish although it originally was pronounced as "shavier", which is still the case in Catalan and Portuguese. Another example is the Pashto language, which is pronounced as "Pashto" in the western dialects, but as "Pakhto" in the central and eastern dialects.

[@dustgreylynx]

The funny thing is that sj is pronounced exactly as Slavic ch (like in Polish or RUssian for exmple). No it's not the same sound as in German or Dutch. It's rather the type 1

[@haroldlaichar9691]

What font did you use in the examples in this video?

[@怠惰な耳の長いフクロウ]

For me as a german the sj sound is pretty easy to do

[@GGViraN]

ehm..jag uttalar Sju och skina med det andra Sj-ljudet haha

[@WonderTracks]

Ja.. Det finns en dialektal nivå till sj som komplicerar saken mångfaldigt! Just sj är ju även en fonetisk klassfråga.. tj ersätter ofta när jag ska rollspela överklass t ex :)

[@michaelshort2388]

I was taught to pronounce "sju" using the back sj sound. Is that correct?

[@AcademiaCervena]

They're all correct! If you want to see how the different versions are used in different words and regions, though, check out part 2 of the series :)

[@lingux_yt]

I found harder to understand the first sj sound. Does it sound like the retroflex sh in mandarin? And the tj seems to sound like the mandarin x, as well. The second sj sound seems to be placed between "ich" and "buch", if we "split" the palate in three places.Thanks!

[@AcademiaCervena]

The front _sj_ sound is made at the same position as the Mandarin _sh_, but made with the tip of the tongue (apical) instead of the blade (laminal). The _tj_ sound is the same as Mandarin _x_, and the back _sj_ sound is made at basically the same position as German _ch_ in 'Buch', but with considerably less friction. A common mistake it to front it too much towards the hard palate, since it's reminiscent of the _ch_ in 'ich'!

[@elisas.utgaard9065]

Jag uttalar 'sju' med det andra sj-ljudet haha. Samma sak med 'skina' :P

[@zelda_lb]

jag med! Dialektalt tror jag

[@Susilull]

Jag är från Västra Götaland och uttalar dessa ord som du gör medan min sambo som är från Skellefteå uttalar dem som i videon så det är garanterat dialektala skillnader!

[@Josefsson9013]

Min mamma säger sju med första sj men jag säger med andra som nästan alla gör Jämtland tror jag

[@tildeissobieberlike]

Zelda B skåning och enda jag uttalar annorlunda är lunch

[@DaReaperZ]

Det gör jag med. Faktum är att jag inte använder det främre "sj" ljudet speciellt ofta. Är från Syd Östra Skåne så det har antagligen något med det att göra.

[@bernadette_ri5270]

It's like an angry cat

[@Josefsson9013]

I say Sju with the back sound but my mom say it with the front sound

[@mr_fallout3169]

Why is the k in swedish sometimes "k" and sometimes "sh" (kottebolle).

[@AcademiaCervena]

'k' is commonly pronounced as /ɕ/ (aka the _tj_ sound) before in native words! See my video about the tj sound for more information! :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaXTk3VrYtB0lZI

[@gatrudekay954]

watch the tj sound video. towards the end it explains why.

[@djt6fan]

I think my pronunciation of the *sj* sound is pretty spot on, but sometimes when I'm pronouncing it I create a whistling sound, what my Swedish friend noticed. Any way to completely eliminate this?

[@AcademiaCervena]

Hard to say what it is without hearing it or knowing more, but maybe you're overarticulating with your lips?

[@djt6fan]

Might be, honestly I've got no clue anymore, I've got a Swedish friend, but he says it never sounds right when I say it, even though I can swear I sound exactly like the first round of pronouncing at minute 6. Unfortunately he can't explain what is off. I hope I'm not bothering you too much by asking you to listen to the Vocaroo recording of those 6 words, it's really driving me crazy as I've been trying to mimic the Swedish *sj* for the longest time now :) vocaroo(dot)com/i/s1CeZdGtrzsp

[@AcademiaCervena]

I can hear what you mean. My guess is you're either rounding your lips too much when doing the sound, or putting the production of the sound too much towards the front of the mouth. There is a risk that when trying to get the extra lip articulation, you'll try to make the sound in between the back position and the lips. The lips should just be secondary, and you should feel the sound be produced at the /k/ position. (For instance your word 'lunch' sounded to be made by the middle part of the tongue). Hope it is of any help!

[@djt6fan]

Thanks a lot! Yep, definitely gives me insight! Yeah, I kind of messed up on the word lunch, I just didn't feel like rerecording the entire thing again. Yeah, seems like when I eliminate the excessive lip rounding, the sound does indeed sound more natural. What I actually realized just now is, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that the /ɧ/ sound is pretty much the /x/ sound, just pronounced further back and with some lip rounding. It's really easy to make this sound, but the problem is usually the follow up after it, the part where it always seems to be some sort of an f/v (or some lip rounding follow-up) sound inbetween/ɧ/ and whatever other sound comes after /ɧ/. Still trying to figure out the perfect positioning, so far it's still a trial and error phase :) Thanks a lot for your help again!

[@seitoru]

Front sj sounds actually same as polish "sz", while back one just like our "h". I wish we had such easy way to learn vowels

[@Ida-xe8pg]

As he said the back sj sound is just the softer less rougher ch/h [x] sound

[@VicariousReality7]

Tror jag aldrig hört nån säga skina, bara strålar eller (sol)sken

[@theophonchana5025]

When is back and front sj-sound pronounced?

[@AcademiaCervena]

See part 2 :)

[@chrisinnes2128]

So the back sj is more like in Irish lough than Scots loch got it

[@Ida-xe8pg]

the ch sound in loch is a /x/ or basically rougher /ɧ/

[@morriskaller3549]

06:40 actually no. What you did there is a /χ/ not /x/ Also the back variety of the sj is literally just /x/. Skina is pronounced /xiːna/ in most accents, the same sound as Spanish German, russian etc. /ɧ/ is just a stand in symbol for a phoneme that has the realisations/x/ and /ʂ/ depending on accents

[@AcademiaCervena]

1st point: No. 2nd point: Essentially, but not exactly like that.

[@mapepe3788]

im supposed to be sleeping, what im i doing here..

[@reducedsmell5356]

Actually the Russian h is COMPLETELY IDENTICAL

[@jonmagnusson6399]

2:51 Hur kan du få Skina att uttalas Kina ? Innan du försöker lära ut något så lär dig rätt själv först !

[@AcademiaCervena]

Om jag bortser från att du inte verkar ha tittat ordentligt på filmen, så tycker jag det är intressant att du tycker att 'skina' med främre sj-ljud låter som 'Kina' med tj-ljud. Jag blir nyfiken på om du har främre sj-ljud i din egen dialekt? Rimmar 'kurs' och 'dusch' för dig?

[@helmaschine1885]

Vilken korkad kommentar. 😂Har du aldrig hört en annan dialekt?

[@josecanseco2477]

I love you

[@Ida-xe8pg]

/x/ but softer

[@orhoushmand85]

I thought the raspy velear fricative is actually uvular.