Sj-sound
The sj-sound is a voiceless fricative phoneme found in the sound system of most dialects of Swedish. It has a variety of realisations, whose precise phonetic characterisations are a matter of debate, but which often feature distinct labialization. The sound is represented in Swedish orthography by a number of spellings, the most common of which are ,,, and ; if considered in complementary distribution with, up to 65 different spellings for the phoneme have been identified in native words and loanwords. The sound should not be confused with the Swedish tj-sound, usually spelled,, or .
The IPA letter for these sounds,, has occasionally been used for other languages, but as it has no set phonetic value, this is only useful as an abstraction.
Features
The sj-sounds are transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet. The International Phonetic Association describes as "simultaneous and ". Other descriptive labels include:Voiceless postalveolo-velar fricative, voiceless postalveolar and velar fricative, and voiceless coarticulated velar and palatoalveolar fricative, all of which correspond to ;Voiceless palatal-velar fricative and voiceless dorso-palatal velar fricative, which correspond to.However, neither of these realizations are attested, and phoneticians doubt that such a realization is possible in "ordinary language," as it is difficult to produce, or even to hear, turbulent airflow at two places of articulation simultaneously.
The closest sound found in English, as well as many other languages, is the voiceless postalveolar fricative , although usually the closest audible approximation is the voiceless [labialized velar approximant] found in some English dialects. Regionally, it varies from being more -like in the standard speech, to being more -like in northern Sweden and Finland. The tj-sound remains distinct, varying from more -like in the standard speech to more -like in northern Sweden and Finland.
Phonetic realization in Swedish
The place of articulation of the sj-sound varies over Swedish regions and is not agreed upon. It has been variously found to be the following:- velar and postalveolar, meaning it is articulated simultaneously with the tongue dorsum approximating the velum and just behind the teeth. However, doubly articulated fricatives are very difficult to pronounce or to hear, and many linguists doubt that they exist.
- Lindblad describes one of two common variants of Swedish as labiodental with simultaneous velarization and protrusion of the upper lip, which would be transcribed as. He does not use the symbol for this allophone.
- Lindblad describes the second common variant of Swedish as velar. The difference between it and the cardinal velar is not clear, but it may have less friction, or be further forward, or both.
- Riad notes that the basic dorsal place of assimilation can be determined by the place of assimilation of a preceding nasal, with en skjorta 'a shirt', for example, being pronounced. He notes a labialized allophone.
- A number of intermediate possibilities between these extremes.
- Other articulations have been described as well, with no obvious standard emerging.
Use of the letter ɧ for other languages
Colognian
A sound transcribed with is also reported to occur in the Colognian dialect of Ripuarian in Germany, being articulated in positions in words that enveloping Standard German has.The acoustic difference between and the Kölsch is difficult to perceive but the articulation is clearly distinct. A similarity between Swedish and the Kölsch has not been established, and comments suggest that the choice of might well have been based upon a misunderstanding. Certainly, the Kölsch is not doubly articulated and even contrasts with a slightly velarized.
Some phoneticians, such as of the University of Cologne in his lessons on IPA transcription, suggest that might be a better symbol for the sound.