Sj-sound

The sj-sound ( ) is a voiceless fricative phoneme found in most dialects of the sound system of Swedish.  It has a variety of realisations, whose precise phonetic characterisation is a matter of debate, but which usually feature distinct labialization.  The sound is represented in Swedish orthography by a number of spellings, including the digraph  from which the common Swedish name is derived, as well as , , and (before front vowels) .  The sound should not be confused with the Swedish tj-sound , often spelled , , or (before front vowels) . 

The sound is transcribed  in the International Phonetic Alphabet.   The International Phonetic Association (IPA) describes it as a "simultaneous  and ", but this claim is disputed among phoneticians. 
Other descriptive labels include:
 Voiceless postalveolo-velar fricative
 Voiceless palatal-velar fricative
 Voiceless dorso-palatal velar fricative
 Voiceless postalveolar and velar fricative
 Voiceless coarticulated velar and palatoalveolar fricative

The closest sound found in English is , with another approximation being the voiceless labialized velar approximant  found in some English dialects. 

Features
Features of the sj-sound:

 Its place of articulation is disputed. 

Occurrence

Dialects of Swedish

 

This sound has been reported in certain dialects of Swedish, where it is most often known as the sj-sound. 

Its place of articulation varies over Swedish regions and is not agreed upon.  It has been variously found to be the following:
 velar and postalveolar, meaning it is articulated simultaneously with the tongue dorsum (i.e. the back part of the tongue) approximating the velum (i.e. the soft palate, like ) and just behind the teeth (like ).  However, doubly articulated fricatives are very difficult to pronounce or to hear, and many linguists doubt that they exist. 
 Lindblad describes one of two common variants of Swedish  as labiodental with simultaneous velarization and protrusion of the upper lip, which would be transcribed as . ( The English sigh of relief phew!  is one approximation, as is the voiceless labial-velar approximant that is used in some varieties of English.)  He does not use the symbol  for this allophone. 
 Lindblad describes the second common variant of Swedish  as velar.  The difference between it and the standard IPA  sound is not clear, but it may have less friction , or be further forward , or both. 
 A number of intermediate possibilities between these extremes. 
 Other articulations have been described as well, with no obvious standard emerging. 

Consider the following comments by Peter Ladefoged and Ian Maddieson:

Kölsch

A sound transcribed as  is also reported to occur in the Kölsch variety of Ripuarian in Germany, being articulated in positions in words that enveloping Standard German has . 

The acoustic difference between  and the Kölsch  is difficult to perceive but the articulation is clearly distinct.  Whether or not there is a relation between Swedish  and the Kölsch  is not known.  While none seems to have been established, comments suggest that the choice of  might well have been based upon a misunderstanding.  Certainly, the Kölsch  is not doubly articulated and even contrasts with a slightly velarized . 

Some phoneticians suggest contrasting  with , as is done in Polish, but this is not established practice, and may need further research. 

See also
 Index of phonetics articles
 Rheinische Dokumenta

Notes

References

External links
 

Category:Fricative consonants
Category:Swedish language
Category:Co-articulated consonants
Category:Voiceless oral consonants
Category:Central consonants