Swedish Phonology

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.

In many cases e an ä coincide and are pronounced the same as in sett - sätt. On that account some dictionaries mention that there are only eight short vowels in the Swedish language.