Monday, November 16, 2009

How would you pronounce this Swedish name?

Pelle Almqvist

How would you pronounce this Swedish name?
PEL-le - "pel" like in pellet + "le" like in let


ALM-kvist - "al" like the "ul" in Ulster + m + k + "vist" like in vista





Actually, all four syllables are stressed in standard Swedish, but there are two different kinds of melodic stress which are extremely difficult to reproduce for a non-native speaker (my wife, for example ...). If you instead stick with the first stress in each word you will sound more like a Finland Swedish or Northern Swedish speaker, which is also ok. ;)
Reply:PELL-e (short e sound, as in gem) ALM-kvist





The primary and secondary accent in Swedish is not much different, truthfully. That's one thing that gives them that sing-song sound. It's more like a 55-45 split, unlike English which has clearly delineated primary and secondary accents. In other words, don't drop off too much on the second syllable.
Reply:In IPA: ['p蓻l蓻 'almkv瑟st]


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