The Swedish L

Learning Swedish Forum - Ask a Tutor
1

Hi there,

I’m reading a bit about the Swedish pronunciation found at this link: http://www2.hhs.se/isa/swedish/chap9.htm. The explanation of “l” is:

“like in English, but with the tip of the tongue straight and pressed closer towards the teeth, without actually touching them.”

I wonder if native speakers find this true? I try to make this l sound without my tongue tip touching the teeth (upper or lower teeth btw?), but this seems to be impossible. It appears to me that I can only make something like ‘errrr’ by doing so. Is this correct? Am I missing anything here?

Thanks!

2

Yes it’s correct. The Swedish “L” is like in English. All you have to do is to practice alot, here is a link to a old Swedish tv-show made for kids to learn Swedish phonology, they have one episode for every alphabet letter, and this clip is about the letter “L”. I think it could be useful as they say alot of L-words and explain how to pronounce “L”. Fem myror - Bokstaven L - YouTube
Maybe it’s too childish but I hope it helps anyway!

Here is another one I found Bokstaven L - YouTube
You could try to listen to this and repeat until you got the perfect L-sound!

Good luck =)

3

Thanks @davven! The links are excellent!

When one pronounces “L”, shall the tip of one’s tongue touch the upper palate, i.e. the area that is right behind one’s upper teeth? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Illu01_head_neck.jpg/250px-Illu01_head_neck.jpg (I understand that one’s tongue tip shall not touch the upper teeth now.) :slight_smile:

4

Yes you press your teeth towards the teeth but not at the teeth, as you said it should touch the upper palate.I didn’t know that word in english until now haha :smiley:

Good luck and have fun learning Swedish!!

5

Thanks a lot! Now this is very clear. Good luck with your Finnish! :slight_smile: