Swedish Phonology
Contents
Vowels
The Swedish language uses nine vowels: a, e, i, o, u, y, å, ä and ö. It also distinguishes between long and short vowels.
Long Vowels
There are nine long vowel phonemes which can cause a change in the meaning of a word.
Examples: is [iːs] ny [nyː] mus [mʉːs] sol [suːl] led [leːs] öl [øːl] bås [boːs] näs [nɛːs] sak [sɑːk]
Sometimes the doubling of a consonant also indicates the lengthening of a preceding vowel, e.g. bar - barr.
Short Vowels
Swedish makes use of nine short vowels.