TheSwedish alphabet (Swedish:svenska alfabetet) is a basic element of the Latinwriting system used for theSwedish language. The 29 letters of thisalphabet are the modern 26-letterbasic Latin alphabet (⟨a⟩ to⟨z⟩) plus⟨å⟩,⟨ä⟩, and⟨ö⟩, in that order. It contains 20 consonants and 9 vowels (⟨a e i o u y å ä ö⟩). The Latin alphabet was brought toSweden along with the Christianization of the population, althoughrunes continued in use throughout the first centuries of Christianity, even for ecclesiastic purposes, despite their traditional relation to theOld Norse religion. The runes underwent partial "latinization" in the Middle Ages, when the Latin alphabet was completely accepted as the Swedish script system, but runes still occurred, especially in the countryside, until the 18th century, and were used decoratively until mid 19th century.[1]
The pronunciation of thenames of the letters (that does not necessarily coincide with the sounds the letters represent) is as follows:
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In addition to the 26 letters of theISO basic Latin alphabet, A through Z, the Swedish alphabet includesÅ,Ä, andÖ at the end. They are distinct letters in Swedish and are sorted after⟨z⟩.[2]
The letter⟨q⟩ is rare.⟨q⟩ was common in ordinary words before 1889, when its replacement by⟨k⟩ was allowed.[3] Since 1900, only the forms with⟨k⟩ are listed in dictionaries.[4] Some proper names kept their⟨q⟩ despite the change to common words:Qvist,Quist,Husqvarna, Quenby, Quinby, Quintus, Quirin and Quirinus. Other uses include someloanwords that retained⟨q⟩, includingqueer,quisling,squash, andquilting; student terms such asgasque; and foreign geographic names likeQatar.
The letter⟨w⟩ is rare. Before the 19th century,⟨w⟩ was interchangeable with⟨v⟩ (⟨w⟩ was used inFraktur,⟨v⟩ inAntiqua). Official orthographic standards since 1801 use only⟨v⟩ for common words. Many family names kept their⟨w⟩ despite the change to common words.[citation needed] Foreign words and names bring in uses of⟨w⟩, particularly combinations withwebb for(World Wide) Web. Swedish sorting traditionally and officially treated⟨v⟩ and⟨w⟩ as equivalent, so that users would not have to guess whether the word, or name, they were seeking was spelled with a⟨v⟩ or a⟨w⟩. The two letters were often combined in the collating sequence as if they were all⟨v⟩ or all⟨w⟩, until 2006 when the 13th edition ofSvenska Akademiens ordlista (The Swedish Academy's Orthographic Dictionary) declared a change.[5][6][7][8][9]⟨w⟩ was given its own section in the dictionary, and the⟨w⟩ =⟨v⟩ sorting rule was deprecated.[10] This means Swedish books printed before 2006 would group⟨w⟩ with⟨v⟩ in the index, and most Swedish software published before 2006 would treat the two as variations of a single character when sorting text.
The letter⟨z⟩ is rare, used in names and a few loanwords such aszon "zone".⟨z⟩ historically represented/ts/. By 1700, this had merged with/s/. As a result,⟨z⟩ was replaced by⟨s⟩ in 1700.⟨z⟩ was instead used in loanwords for historical/z/.⟨z⟩ is the second least used letter in Swedish, before⟨q⟩.[11]
The characters⟨à⟩ (which is used only in a few rare non-integrated loanwords such asà, from French) and⟨é⟩ (used in some integrated loanwords likeidé andarmé, and in some surnames such asRosén orLöfvén) are recognised but regarded as variants of⟨a⟩ and⟨e⟩, respectively.
The umlauted⟨ü⟩ is recognised but is only used in names ofGerman origin, and in German loanwords such asmüsli. It is otherwise treated as a variant of⟨y⟩ and is called "German⟨y⟩".
For foreign names,⟨ç, ë, í, õ⟩ and many others might be used, but are usually converted to⟨c, e, i, o⟩, etc.
The letters⟨æ⟩ and⟨ø⟩, used in Danish and Norwegian, are considered variants of⟨ä⟩ and⟨ö⟩, and arecollated as such. Unlike letters with diacritics like⟨à⟩,⟨ë⟩,⟨í⟩, etc.⟨æ⟩ and⟨ø⟩ are not easily available on Swedish keyboards, and are thus often replaced with⟨ä⟩ and⟨ö⟩. The news agencyTT follows this usage because some newspapers have no technical support for⟨æ⟩ and⟨ø⟩,[12] although there is a recommendation to use⟨æ⟩ and⟨ø⟩. The letter⟨æ⟩ was used in earlier Swedish script systems, when there was in general more similarity between the Scandinavian languages.
The ligature⟨æ⟩, used in Latin as a variant of⟨ae⟩, is used in some Swedish surnames. It is then considered equivalent with⟨ae⟩ and collated accordingly. However, sometimes it is collated as⟨ä⟩: in the 14th edition of theSvenska Akademiens ordlista, the wordslæstadian, læstadianer, læstadianism (from the surnameLæstadius) are sorted betweenlästa andlästeknik.
The Swedish traditional handwritten alphabet is the same as the ordinary Latin cursive alphabet, but the letters⟨ö⟩ and⟨ä⟩ are written by connecting the dots with a curved line, identical to atilde⟨◌̃⟩, hence looking like⟨õ⟩ and⟨ã⟩. In text the dots should be clearly separated, but in handwriting writers frequently replace them with amacron⟨◌̄⟩:⟨ō⟩,⟨ā⟩.
| Letter | Pronunciation (IPA) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long | Short | ||
| a | /ɑː/ | /a/ | |
| e | /eː/ | /ɛ/ | Some speakers distinguish two short sounds:/ɛ/ and/e/. The former sound is usually spelled⟨ä⟩, but some words exceptionally have⟨e⟩, among them words with⟨ej⟩, numerals, proper names and their derivations, and loanwords. Before 1889,⟨e⟩ for/ɛ/ and/ɛː/ was also used for many other words, in particular words with⟨je⟩ now spelled⟨jä⟩. The sound/eː/ at the end of loanwords and in the last syllable of Swedish surnames is represented by⟨é⟩. |
| i | /iː/ | /ɪ/ | |
| o | /uː/,/oː/ | /ɔ/,/ʊ/ | The phoneme/ʊ/ is relatively infrequent; short⟨o⟩ more often represents/ɔ/. Long⟨o⟩ usually represents/uː/ in native words. |
| u | /ʉː/ | /ɵ/ | |
| y | /yː/ | /ʏ/ | |
| å | /oː/ | /ɔ/ | Most words with/ɔ/ and some words with/oː/ are spelled with⟨o⟩. |
| ä | /ɛː/ | /ɛ/ | Some words with/ɛ/ are spelled with⟨e⟩. |
| ö | /øː/ | /œ/ | The short⟨ö⟩ is, in some dialects, pronounced as/ɵ/. |
Short vowels are followed by two or more consonants; long vowels are followed by a single consonant, by a vowel or are word-final.
| Grapheme | Sound (IPA) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| b | /b/ | |
| c | /k/,/s/ | /s/ beforefront vowels⟨e i y⟩ (not used before⟨ä ö⟩), otherwise/k/ (not used before⟨å⟩). The letter⟨c⟩ alone is used only in loanwords (usually in the/s/ value) and proper names, but⟨ck⟩ is a normal representation for/kː/ after a short vowel (as in English and German). |
| ch | /ɧ/,/ɕ/ | In loanwords. The conjunctionoch (and) is pronounced/ɔkː/ or/ɔ/. |
| d | /d/ | |
| dj | /j/ | |
| f | /f/ | |
| g | /ɡ/,/j/ | /j/ beforefront vowels⟨e i y ä ö⟩, otherwise/ɡ/ |
| gj | /j/ | |
| gn | /ɡn/,/ŋn/ | /ɡn/ word-initially;/ŋn/ elsewhere |
| h | /h/ | |
| hj | /j/ | |
| j | /j/ | |
| k | /k/,/ɕ/ | /ɕ/ beforefront vowels⟨e i y ä ö⟩ except for akör, otherwise/k/ |
| kj | /ɕ/ | |
| l | /l/ | |
| lj | /j/ | |
| m | /m/ | |
| n | /n/ | |
| ng | /ŋ/,/ŋɡ/,/ng/ | |
| p | /p/ | |
| r | /r/ | Is pronounced as[ɾ] in some words. Considerable dialectal variation, often pronounced as an approximant[ɹ] or fricative[ʐ]. Southern dialects are noted for their uvular realization of/r/; that is, a uvular trill[ʀ], a fricative[ʁ] or[χ], or an approximant[ʁ̞]. |
| rd | /ɖ/ | |
| rl | /ɭ/ | |
| rn | /ɳ/ | |
| rs | /ʂ/ | |
| rt | /ʈ/ | |
| s | /s/ | |
| sj | /ɧ/ | |
| sk | /sk/,/ɧ/ | /ɧ/ before front vowels⟨e i y ä ö⟩ and in the wordsmänniska andmarskalk, otherwise/sk/ |
| skj | /ɧ/ | |
| stj | /ɧ/ | |
| t | /t/ | |
| tj | /ɕ/ | |
| v | /v/ | Before 1906,⟨fv, hv⟩ and final⟨f⟩ were also used for/v/. Now these spellings are used in some proper names. |
| w | /v/ | Rarely used (loanwords, proper names). In loanwords from English, may represent/w/. |
| x | /ks/ | |
| z | /s/ | Only used in loanwords and proper names. |
Due to several phonetic combinations coalescing over recent centuries, the spelling of theSwedish sje-sound is very eclectic. Some estimates claim that there are over 50 possible different spellings of the sound, though this figure is disputed. Garlén (1988) gives a list of 22 spellings (⟨ch⟩,⟨che⟩,⟨g⟩,⟨ge⟩,⟨gi⟩,⟨ige⟩,⟨j⟩,⟨je⟩,⟨sc⟩,⟨sch⟩,⟨sh⟩,⟨shi⟩,⟨si⟩,⟨sj⟩,⟨sk⟩,⟨skj⟩,⟨ssi⟩,⟨ssj⟩,⟨stg⟩,⟨sti⟩,⟨stj⟩,⟨ti⟩), but many of them are confined to only a few words, often loanwords, and all of them can correspond to other sounds or sound sequences as well. Some spellings of the sje-sound are as follows:
Trettonde upplagan inför slutligen något så ovanligt som ytterligare en självständig bokstav, nämligenw ("dubbel-v") som inte längre sorteras in under enkeltv utan – som i många andra språk, även nordiska – blir en bokstav med egen placering efter bokstavenv.
Trettonde upplagan inför slutligen något så ovanligt som ytterligare en självständig bokstav, nämligenw ("dubbel-v") som inte längre sorteras in under enkeltv utan – som i många andra språk, även nordiska – blir en bokstav med egen placering efter bokstavenv.
Alfabetet består inte längre av 28 bokstäver, utan 29. Det betyder att ett stort antal läroböcker måste skrivas om. Att det blivit så här beror på att Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL) i sin nya upplaga särskiljer W från enkelt V. Äntligen – för det är internationell praxis.
Om särsortering av v och w slår igenom i fler sammanhang, t.ex. i ordböcker, innebär det att det svenska alfabetet kan sägas ha 29 bokstäver, inte som tidigare bara 28. Behöver man ange denna uppgift, bör man tills vidare ge en förklaring i stil med: "det svenska alfabetet har 29 bokstäver (om man räknar w som en bokstav med egen plats i alfabetet)". Har man inte plats för sådana nyanserade tillägg, är det säkrast att uppge antalet till 29.
Den rimligaste 'födelsedagen' är nog 3 mars 2005. Då fattade nämligen Svenska Akademiens sitt beslut att föra in W som bokstav i alfabetet. Den direkta anledningen var, som du själv påpekar, att den kommande upplagan av SAOL skulle sära på V och W. Själva bokstaven har ju funnits i långliga tider, men det var alltså i SAOL13, som kom ut våren 2006, närmare bestämt den 10 april 2006, som Akademiens ordlista för första gången hade W som 'en bokstav med egen placering efter bokstaven V'.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)