Swedish Pronunciation Guide

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) uses symbols to represent speech sounds. Swedish pronunciation can be transcribed in different ways. The tables below show the symbols and transcription conventions used by Say It in Swedish.

Consonants

IPA	Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
b	bil	[biːl]	car
d	din	[dɪnː]	yours
ɖ	bord	[buːɖ]	table
f	flöjt	[fløjːt]	flute
g	gul	[gʉːl]	yellow
h	hon	[hʊnː]	she
k	kram	[krɑːm]	hug
l	lista	[ˇlɪsːta]	list
ɭ	pärla	[ˇpæːɭa]	pearl
m	mage	[ˇmɑːgɛ]	stomach
n	Norden	[nuːɖɛn]	the north
ɳ	barn	[bɑːɳ]	child
ŋ	sång	[sɔŋː]	song
p	pipa	[ˇpiːpa]	pipe
r	räv	[rɛːv]	fox
s	sur	[sʉːr]	sour
ʂ	mars	[maʂː]	March
t	tro	[truː]	believe
ʈ	lort	[lʊʈː]	dirt
v	vecka	[ˇvɛkːa]	week
ɕ	kök kjol tjuv	[ɕøːk] [ɕuːl] [ɕʉːv]	kitchen skirt thief
ɧ	själ skäl stjärna skjorta station choklad giraff pension passion	[ɧɛːl] [ɧɛːl] [ˇɧæːɳa] [ˇɧʊʈːa] [staˈɧuːn] [ɧʊklɑː(d)] [ɧɪˈrafː] [paŋˈɧuːn] [paˈɧuːn]	soul reason star shirt station chocolate giraffe pension passion

Vowels

IPA	Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
a	katt	[katː]	cat
ɑː	lat	[lɑːt]	lazy
eː	sen	[seːn]	late
ɪ	simma	[ˇsɪmːa]	swim
iː	tid	[tiːd]	time
ɔ	och	[ɔkː]	and
ʊ	apor	[ˇɑːpʊr]	monkeys
uː	sol	[suːl]	sun
ɵ	undra	[ˇɵnːdra]	wonder
ʉ	duell	[dʉˈɛlː]	duell
ʉː	mur	[mʉːr]	wall
ʏ	lykta	[ˇlʏkːta]	lantern
yː	myra	[ˇmyːra]	ant
oː	så	[soː]	so
ɛ	tänka	[ˇtɛŋːka]	think
ɛː	räkna	[ˇrɛːkna]	calculate
æ	ärr	[ærː]	scar
æː	lärare	[ˇlæːrarɛ]	teacher
ø	önska	[ˇønːska]	wish
øː	lök	[løːk]	onion
œ	dörr	[dœrː]	door
œː	lördag	[lœːɖɑːg] [lœːɖa]	Saturday