Diphthongs in the Swedish of Stockholm

The Swedish spoken in the south of Sweden is known for its extensive use of diphthongs. However, the variety spoken in Stockholm also has a number of diphthongs. In Finland and other parts of Sweden such as northern Sweden, monophthongs are used instead.

The high vowels tend to be pronounced with a glide in the Swedish of Stockholm. This is true for both the high front and high back vowels. In addition, the high front vowels are more central in Stockholm than they are in other parts of the country. 

Diphthongization also occurs with the mid vowels. In fact, the vowel with the greatest degree of diphthongization is the mid front unrounded vowel such as in med (with). In words such as snö (snow), the mid front rounded vowel is realized with a schwa in the second component. The mid back vowel is also diphthongized with clear centralization in the second component of the diphthong. It occurs in words such as son (son).

Vowel charts of Swedish usually depict monophthongs for the Swedish vowels. However, in varieties of Swedish such as those spoken in the south and in Stockholm, the vowels are often diphthongs. In the Swedish of Stockholm, the high vowels and the tense mid vowels are diphthongs. This contrasts with other varieties of Swedish which produce them as monophthongs.