Variation in the Swedish of Stockholm

The Swedish spoken in Stockholm is considered the variety that is closest to standard Swedish. It is the variety of Swedish that is often heard on radio and TV. However, it is not complely uniform. There is variation in the Stockholm dialect.

Stockholm Swedish is known for its approximant r. The approximant is especially common in syllable-final position. However, it is not used by all speakers. Those who do not use the approximant use an alveolar flap instead.

The palatovelar fricative is common in words such as sju (seven) and stjärna (star). It is used not only in Stockholm but in much of Sweden. However, there are speakers of Stockholm Swedish who do not use it. They use a retroflex alveopalatal fricative. In fact, the use of the retroflex alveopalatal fricative is associated with wealthy speakers.

The vowels i and y can be pronounced with retracted pronunciation. Though this pronunciation can be considered marked, many speakers use it, and it is often associated with Stockholm. Many of those who use it are wealthy speakers.

The vowel ä in words such as näsa (nose) and räka (shrimp) is pronounced with a mid front unrounded lax vowel in most of Sweden. However, in Stockholm, there are speakers who use a mid front unrounded tense vowel. The use of the tense vowel is associated with the Swedish of Stockholm.

The Swedish of Stockholm forms the basis of standard Swedish. It is the variety that is usually taught to learners of the language. However, the dialect is not uniform. There is variety in the dialect of Stockholm.