Norwegian:
Kjære (unvoised platal spirant) -dear
Sjkære (unvoised retroflex) - to cut
Gjære (voised palatal spirant) - to ferment
i -(without any spirant) - in
gi - (voised platal spirant) - to give
It is allways funny to hear foreigners have serous difficulties with
these words, and even with hearing the difference.
Tchnically the afficates exist in Norwegian and Swedish, but they
are interpreated as a combination of a stop and a spirant, and also
written according to this interpretation.
> Thought I might mention that that same Swedish for Tourists
claims "kära" should be pronounced "chairah" by English speakers,
i.e. with an affricate that you say is no longer used in Sweden (and
which was probably not the same as English "ch" in "chair"). Why do
these publications feel they must oversimplify and thereby
misrepresent foreign pronunciation (a rhetorical question)?
>
> Andrew
>