The sj-sound is a voiceless fricative phoneme found in the sound system of most dialects 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 ⟨sj⟩ from which the common Swedish name for the sound is derived, as well as ⟨stj⟩, ⟨skj⟩, and (before front vowels) ⟨sk⟩. The sound should not be confused with the Swedish tj-sound, often spelled ⟨tj⟩, ⟨kj⟩, or (before front vowels) ⟨k⟩. These sounds are transcribed ⟨ɧ⟩ in the International Phonetic Alphabet. The International Phonetic Association (IPA) describes them as "simultaneous and ", but this realization is not attested, and phoneticians doubt that such a realization actually occurs in any language. Other descriptive labels include: The closest sound found in English, as well as many other languages, is the voiceless postalveolar fricative (Swedish words with the sound often correspond to English words with "sh", such as "shield", "shoot"), although usually the closest audible approximation is the voiceless labialized velar approximant found in some English dialects. Regionally, it varies from being more -like in the standard speech, to being more -like in northern Sweden and Finland. The tj-sound (which often corresponds to English words with "ch", such as "chicken", "church") remains distinct, varying from more -like (i.e., ) in the standard speech to more -like in northern Sweden and Finland.

Features

Features of the sj-sound:

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: Consider the following comments by Peter Ladefoged and Ian Maddieson:

Kölsch

A sound transcribed with ⟨ɧ⟩ 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 ⟨ɧ⟩ might well have been based upon a misunderstanding. Certainly, the Kölsch is not doubly articulated and even contrasts with a slightly velarized. Some phoneticians, such as Georg Sachse of the University of Cologne in his lessons on IPA transcription, suggest that ⟨ɕ⟩ is a better symbol for this sound, but this is not established practice, and may need further research.

Himalayan languages

A sound transcribed with ⟨ɧ⟩ is also reported word-initially and word-medially in the Wutun language, where it is described simply as a "velar glide", which would be [ɰ]. The symbol is also used in describing a sound in the Bahing language of Nepal.