Accents & Dialects Expressions
Skånska, göteborgska, norrländska — and the inhaled 'yes' that confuses everyone.
A guided tour of how Swedish actually sounds: first the standard and the map of dialects, then the sounds that draw the borders (the two r's, sje and tje), then the newer city varieties, and finally the argument that matters — no dialect is worse Swedish. Terms in the order a linguist would walk you through them.
- 1
rikssvenska
standard Swedish
Tip: lit. 'realm Swedish' — the Stockholm-adjacent neutral standard.
- 2
en dialekt
a dialect
Tip: lit. the same.
- 3
en bred dialekt
a broad accent
Tip: lit. the same.
- 4
skånska
the Skåne accent
Tip: lit. the same — the guttural R that Swedes love to imitate.
- 5
göteborgska
the Gothenburg accent
Tip: lit. the same — and its famous fondness for puns.
- 6
stockholmska
a Stockholm accent
Tip: lit. the same — and its rising intonation.
- 7
gotländska
Gotland dialect
Tip: lit. the same — with its own diphthongs.
- 8
dalmål
Dalarna dialect
Tip: lit. the same — some varieties are barely mutually intelligible.
- 9
älvdalska
Elfdalian
Tip: lit. the same — arguably a separate language.
- 10
norrländska
the northern accent
Tip: lit. the same — slow, and famously sparing with words.
- 11
det inandade jo
the inhaled yes
Tip: lit. the same — a sharp intake of breath meaning 'yes'.
- 12
finlandssvenska
Finland Swedish
Tip: lit. the same — spoken by 300,000 people in Finland.
- 13
finlandssvensk rytm
a Finnish-Swedish rhythm
Tip: lit. the same — flatter, and clearer to learners.
- 14
ingen melodi där
no pitch accent there
Tip: lit. the same — which many find easier.
- 15
var kommer du ifrån?
where are you from?
Tip: lit. the same — asked about dialects, not just countries.
- 16
jag hör att du är från Skåne
I can hear you're from the south
Tip: lit. the same.
- 17
ha kraftig brytning
to have a strong accent
Tip: lit. 'have a strong break' — 'brytning' means a foreign accent.
- 18
prata med brytning
to speak with an accent
Tip: lit. the same.
- 19
tona ner sin dialekt
to tone down your dialect
Tip: lit. the same — many do when they move.
- 20
den kommer tillbaka när jag åker hem
it comes back when I go home
Tip: lit. the same.
- 21
ett dialektord
a regional word
Tip: lit. the same.
- 22
samma ord betyder något annat där
the same word means something else there
Tip: lit. the same.
- 23
påse eller kasse
a bag, or a plastic bag
Tip: lit. the same — the regional word war.
- 24
ingen förstår mig i Stockholm
nobody understands me in Stockholm
Tip: lit. the same — the Norrland complaint.
- 25
bli retad för sin dialekt
to be teased about your accent
Tip: lit. the same.
- 26
dialekterna försvinner
dialects are disappearing
Tip: lit. the same — a real concern.
- 27
alla dialekter är riktig svenska
every accent is correct Swedish
Tip: lit. the same.
- 28
det är en del av vem man är
it's part of who you are
Tip: lit. the same.
- 29
jag älskar att höra var folk kommer ifrån
I love hearing where people come from
Tip: lit. the same.
- 30
tungspets-r
the rolled R
Tip: lit. 'tongue-tip r' — north of the dialect border.
- 31
skorrande r
the guttural R
Tip: lit. the same — in the south.
- 32
gränsen går genom Småland
the border runs through Småland
Tip: lit. the same — a real linguistic boundary.
- 33
sje-ljudet
the sje sound
Tip: lit. the same — pronounced differently across the country.
- 34
tje-ljudet
the tje sound
Tip: lit. the same — as in 'kött'.
- 35
mjukt eller hårt k
a soft or hard K
Tip: lit. the same — 'kaka' versus 'kök'.
- 36
en sociolekt
a sociolect
Tip: lit. the same.
- 37
förortssvenska
suburban Swedish
Tip: lit. the same — a real and studied variety.
- 38
multietniskt ungdomsspråk
a multi-ethnic youth language
Tip: lit. the same — the academic term.
- 39
lånord från många språk
borrowed words from many languages
Tip: lit. the same.
- 40
det förändras snabbt
it changes fast
Tip: lit. the same.
- 41
vuxna hänger aldrig med
adults never keep up
Tip: lit. the same.
- 42
växla mellan språk
to code-switch
Tip: lit. 'switch between languages'.
- 43
beroende på vem man är med
depending on who you're with
Tip: lit. the same.
- 44
alla gör det
everyone does it
Tip: lit. the same — dialect, register, language.
- 45
en dialekt är inte sämre svenska
a dialect is not worse Swedish
Tip: lit. the same.
- 46
standarden är bara en variant
the standard is just one variety
Tip: lit. the same.
- 47
som råkar bo i Stockholm
which happens to live in Stockholm
Tip: lit. the same — said with a smile.