Swedish dialects vary in the /r/ that they use. In southern dialects the uvular /r/ is used and in northern dialects the alveolar /r/. In certain areas such as Stockholm an alveolar approximant is often used instead of an alveolar flap or alveolar trill. However, a number of dialects use both the alveolar and uvular /r/. The use of these two /r/ sounds depends on the position in the word.
Dialects which use the two /r/ sounds are found north of the southernmost part of Sweden, south of Stockholm and also close to Gothenburg. In certain areas the uvular /r/ is replaced by the labiovelar approximant. The result is that a word such as rot (root) is pronounced [wut] instead of [rut].
The uvular /r/ is used word-initially and before stressed vowels. It is also used for the long /r/, which is spelt rr. The alveolar /r/ is used intervocalically when the first vowel is stressed and the second is unstressed, and when the /r/ is word-final.
The words dörr (door), räv (fox) and strand (beach) have the uvular /r/. In contrast, the words fyra (four), stor (big) and arv (heritage) have the alveolar /r/. The two /r/ sounds are thus in complementary position. The uvular is used when the /r/ is word-initial and when it is long. The alveolar is used when the /r/ is word-final and when it follows a stressed vowel.
The uvular /r/ is underlying. It has the wider distribution of the two. In words such as fyra (four), in which the /r/ is intervocalic and the final vowel is unstressed, we can analyze the /r/ as syllable-final because in syllable-initial position, the /r/ is uvular. With this analysis, the syllabification of fyra is fyr.a to indicate that the /r/ is syllable-final and alveolar.
The realization of the /r/ varies in Swedish dialects. A number of dialects use two /r/ sounds, but the use of the two depends on the position in the word. The uvular /r/ is used when it is word-initial and when it is long. On the other hand, the alveolar /r/ is used when it is word-final and when it follows a stressed vowel.
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