Maybe if I repeat it in Swedish, this sore throat will fade away before the meterologically magnificent weekend ahead (jag är inte sjuk = I am not sick). Lying in bed, my brain started wandering and landed on sjuk, Swedish for “sick.” I tossed it around in my head a little and became inspired to teach the blobosphere about the sj- sound. My Swedish teacher may have explained it best as the “candle-blowing” sound. It’s somewhere between an h and a w, with a little bit of “f” thrown in for good measure. You produce a fun amount of wind – enough to extinguish a candle, perhaps – in producing the sound. Try it! fwhhh!

Here is a Swedish robot pronouncing sjuk. And six other sj- words for you to enjoy: