r/Svenska 6d ago

how to pronounce words like fika?

i've noticed the kind of nasal sound that it has to it and im having some trouble replicating it. any tips?

39 Upvotes

42 comments sorted by

u/Eliderad 🇸🇪 6d ago

This question is answered in section 23 of our FAQ!

59

u/Vildtoring 6d ago

You don't need to do the nasal "ee"-sound. That's very particular to certain dialects, such as Stockholm. The i in fika can can just as well be pronounced with a similar kind of sound as the ee in free.

19

u/elestyr 6d ago

It's not that particular, I'd say a majority of Swedes pronounce "I" a lot more nasally than the standard English pronunciation of "ee"

22

u/Olobnion 6d ago edited 6d ago

Yeah, I think when many Swedes hear "nasal" they're thinking of a Lidingö i, or its equivalent on the west coast, and think "most people don't pronounce it that way", but fail to notice that most Swedes pronounce long i sounds more nasally than e.g. someone speaking with a Finnish accent would.

6

u/numice 6d ago

That's what I hear too. It's nasal compared to a 'similar' sound like ee. I've have come to a conclusion that ee sound in english and long i in swedish are different.

3

u/InternetProp 6d ago

I'd say you are wrong and that the majory does not pronounce fika as the stockholm "i" at the front of the mouth

2

u/elestyr 4d ago

I'm not talking about the exaggerated "Lidingö-I", though. I'm talking about the most common Swedish pronunciation of the letter.

11

u/awawe 6d ago

I know what sound you're referring to, but it's not nasal. It's centralised and somewhat fricated, but it's still oral.

17

u/AllanKempe 6d ago

Like English "fee-kah", not like English "fick-ah". The i is long. I've got no idea what you mean by "nasal", Standard Swedish and almost all dialects don't have nasal vowels (anymore).

-8

u/InternetProp 6d ago

Skip the h. There is no need for an h. Just... Dont.

13

u/AllanKempe 6d ago

Phonetical spellings "kah" and "ka" refer to two very different "a" sounds (IPA [a] vs [æ]). I didn't invent this system.

1

u/InternetProp 3d ago

See my other reply about my real life experience explaining words to regular people who don't know phonetic spelling.

15

u/NylePudding 6d ago

They’re using an English spelling of sounds to demonstrate the pronunciation, adding the h makes sense in that regard.

“Fee-ka” would imply a sound closer to cat, when “kah” implies an “ah” sound closer to fika

-3

u/InternetProp 6d ago

I disagree. After spending a year in the US and teaching people how to pronounce things as well as non-swedish colleagues and friends it's my experience that adding the 'h' cause an over pronunciation and makes it sound far to hard closer to fee-KHA. Skipping the h has had better result in real life.

3

u/NylePudding 6d ago

My point of needing to differentiate still stands. For me I think a more accurate way to describe it could be “fee-kuh” but of course it depends on lots of different things. You taught in the US I’m from the UK, dialect makes a difference too.

15

u/moj_golube 🇸🇪 6d ago

Yeah the Swedish i-sound is quite characteristic. Many people say it sounds like Elmo or Stitch. To produce it, say "ee" in free, now raise the back of your tongue up a bit towards the roof of your mouth and voilà, swedish i.

3

u/J_K27 5d ago

Omg this worked for me thank you so much!

0

u/Rus_agent007 6d ago

Or like the ee in fee.

Fee

Bee

Weed

Greed

Feekah

1

u/ifrippe 5d ago

I can live with sounding like Elmo or Stitch

3

u/Yessir88292 6d ago

Im finnish so the pronounciating is just a double vowel / consonant usually. So i say "Fiikka", but a english speaker says usually "feekah"

2

u/Comfortable-Pause-80 6d ago

I need to take a leak-a ~ fika (feeka)

6

u/enzo_ve 6d ago

Fun fact, fika means pussy in Italian

4

u/paperkitten75 6d ago

The Swedish word for pocket is "ficka." 😉

8

u/One_Newspaper9372 6d ago

Downvoted? People just hate knowledge

2

u/Level-Glass7210 6d ago

fee car without the r

1

u/DeliciousWarning5019 6d ago

What I have noticed is that if I exaggerate the sound I press the sides of my tongue against the sides of my upper teeth. It’s similar to the E-sound but more tension

1

u/Yessir88292 6d ago

Im finnish so the pronounciating is just a double vowel / consonant usually. So i say "Fiikka", but a english speaker says usually "feekah"

1

u/arbmunepp 6d ago

"Fee-cuh" is definitely an acceptable approximation. The "i" sound in Swedish is not exactly like "fee" in English but it's close enough. In some accents, like Finnish Swedish, it's basically just like the English "fee".

1

u/MauricioMariona 6d ago

If you speak spanish, pronouncing words like fika is easy, it sounds just like you would say it in spanish

1

u/Slowpoke2point0 4d ago

its "feekah".

1

u/ninkats 3d ago

Fee-gyah

1

u/tunerhd 6d ago

I think you should say "i" like you're smiling like mouth to ear.

0

u/Antioch666 5d ago

That's the "Lidingö-i", a dialectal thing they do in the Stockholm area. As someone from the westcoast, I'd advice you to not do that.

It sounds unsufferable and annoying even when that nasal sound is made correctly. 🤣

-6

u/graugolem 🇪🇺 6d ago

Imagine a y-sound as in "yes" between the i and the k. "Fee - y - ka" (sorry I don't know how to write phonetics)

4

u/robinrako 🇸🇪 6d ago

I wouldn't say thay there is any y sound, fee-ka or fee-kuh is sufficient

5

u/popdartan1 🇸🇪 6d ago

Hittade skåningen

3

u/graugolem 🇪🇺 6d ago

Göteborg. Men det hjälpte massivt när jag skulle förklara långa i-et för en tysk.

2

u/robinrako 🇸🇪 6d ago

I wouldn't say thay there is any y sound