--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...>
wrote:
> Just as a by-the-way observation, I have noticed that many
>Swedish speakers replace their velar /k/ (written k before a, o, u,
>etc.) with a palatal-sounding plosive, almost /kj/.
So far unnoticed by me. But unspoilt ears can hear things that are
unveiled to daily listeners. You are suggesting something like Île
de France "char" as opposed to Norman "car", aren't you?
>But many Swedish speakers also pronounce a former palatal or
>alveolopalatal sound, their sk before front vowels (as well as sj,
>stj) as a labialized velar fricative or something similar,
>something like /xW/.
You are right that there is a tendency towards /x/ but this is still
considered vulgar. The received pronunciation is made by a special
articulation of the lips and the sibilation is entirely labial, not
velar or guttural.
The reason for this development from a palatal sibilant to a labial
one might be that the affricata in "tjära", tar, and its
homophone "kära", dear, lost its t part (except in Finland) and
became a plain fricative, something which made the sound
unconfortably similar to "skära", cut.
In some generations it is probable that this peculiar sibilant will
have developed into an /x/ accepted as the regular pronunciation.
And that is your QED.
Otherwise Danish provides a good example of changing palatals into
velars: "Kjöbenhavn" was spelt and pronounced like
Swedish "Köpenhamn" in eastern Danish dialects, but this was
repressed by influence from Jutland with a plain K pronunciation in
the XIXth century. Somewhat surprising since this was the poor,
undeveloped part of the country. Torsten has in past postings
explained it as an anti-German shibboleth after the wars in the
XIXth century. And has suggested that satem and centum similarly
might be due to a shibboleth before the split (if I remember
correctly).
Lars