| Question: | Dialect?? Speech impediment??? |
|---|---|
| Lesson: | SwedishLingQ - Eating Out, Part 1 |
Both of the speakers come from the south of Sweden (I'm sorry I can't be more specific) where the r is usually uvular (similar to what you would hear in French or German) or even silent in otherwise supradental positions. Other than that, it's nothing unusual with their way of speech.
Are they from Skaane? They are toning it down a lot if they are. Everything is very clear though.
"I add terribly unpleasant to listen to"
I think it is a bit much to call it that. It is perfectly normal Swedish. It is also not a constructive way of phrasing it when you consider people have spent time putting this together. "Interesting" would be better, at least if you were English:-)
Incidentally, I have sometimes heard native people of Spain and Russia who cannot pronounce their own rolled r and pronounce it like this.
"I add terribly unpleasant to listen to"
I think it is a bit much to call it that. It is perfectly normal Swedish. It is also not a constructive way of phrasing it when you consider people have spent time putting this together. "Interesting" would be better, at least if you were English:-)
Incidentally, I have sometimes heard native people of Spain and Russia who cannot pronounce their own rolled r and pronounce it like this.
As others point out above, Anders & André (whose SwedishLingQ conversations I've always found a real treat, among my favorite content on the site) come from southern Sweden. They've mentioned, somewhere or other, that they live in Malmö and are originally from Älmhult in Småland, which lies very near the border with Skåne and happens to be an important location for IKEA. Off the top of my head (and Swedes, please correct me if I'm wrong) I'd guess at least a fifth of Swedish speakers speak in a similar fashion. So, not an impediment but a dialect, and by no means an obscure one.
Yeah, something like that. Not all varieties of Southern Swedish have guttural R though. There is a geographical "R-border" where the R changes into an alveolar trill, but it's not uncommon to hear people from the southern regions speak with a more normal R.
I was going to be a smart-ass and say 'terribly unpleasant to listen to??? Nah, that's just Swedish.' :D