Transcribe Swedish audio and video to text

Upload any Swedish recording and get accurate transcription that resolves tonal accent minimal pairs, handles the notoriously variable sje-sound, and correctly joins compound words. Vocova processes speech from Stockholm to Skåne with full å/ä/ö support.

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AI transcription that understands Swedish prosody and phonology

Swedish is the only major Germanic language with two contrastive tonal accents — accent 1 and accent 2 distinguish words like anden (the duck) from anden (the spirit), and tomten (the plot of land) from tomten (Santa Claus). The sje-sound /ɧ/ has at least five regional realizations, from a dark velar fricative in Stockholm to a more front pronunciation in Gothenburg. Swedish also enforces strict long/short complementary distribution between vowels and consonants: tak (roof, long vowel) vs tack (thanks, short vowel + long consonant). Vocova's AI navigates all of this to produce correctly spelled transcripts.

How it works

1

Upload your Swedish recording

Drag and drop or select any file containing Swedish speech. All common audio and video formats are accepted.

  • MP3, WAV, MP4, MOV, MKV, and all other formats
  • Files up to 500MB supported
  • No format conversion needed
2

AI decodes Swedish prosody and phonetics

Our engine analyzes tonal accent patterns, resolves long/short vowel distinctions, and correctly joins compound words to produce standard Swedish text with å, ä, and ö.

  • Tonal accent context resolved for word identification
  • Compound words joined per Swedish spelling rules
  • Speaker diarization for multi-person recordings
3

Export your transcript

Review the Swedish transcript, make adjustments, and export in the format that suits your workflow.

  • Export as TXT, SRT, VTT, DOCX, or PDF
  • Timestamps for every segment
  • Edit directly in the browser before exporting

Features

Tonal accent pair resolution

Swedish uses two tonal accents that distinguish otherwise identical-looking words: anden (accent 1, the duck) vs anden (accent 2, the spirit), buren (the cage) vs buren (carried). Our AI uses prosodic analysis and sentence context to determine which word was spoken.

Sje-sound dialect handling

The Swedish sje-sound /ɧ/ (in words like sju, skjorta, stjärna) has wildly different realizations across regions — from a dark velar fricative in central Sweden to fronted variants in western dialects. Vocova recognizes all major variants and maps them to the correct spelling.

Compound word joining

Swedish writes compounds as single words: sjukhus (hospital), tandläkare (dentist), barnmorska (midwife). Our AI identifies compound boundaries in speech and joins them correctly, avoiding the common error of splitting compounds into separate words.

Long/short vowel spelling accuracy

Swedish has strict complementary distribution: a long vowel pairs with a short consonant (tak, roof) while a short vowel pairs with a long consonant (tack, thanks). The AI uses this phonological rule to select the correct spelling between minimal pairs.

Why choose Vocova

Document Swedish business meetings

Convert Swedish-language board meetings, strategy sessions, and client calls into written records with correct compound words and orthography for team alignment.

Create subtitles for Swedish video

Export transcripts as SRT or VTT files with full å/ä/ö support. Add accurate Swedish captions to YouTube content, corporate videos, or streaming media.

Process Scandinavian media content

Turn Swedish news broadcasts, podcasts, and documentary narration into searchable text for media monitoring, journalism, and content repurposing.

Support education and research

Transcribe Swedish lectures, seminar discussions, and research interviews into text for accessibility, student support, and qualitative academic analysis.

Who can benefit

Swedish businesses and startups

Transcribe Swedish meetings, pitch sessions, and client interactions into documented records with correct compound word spelling and proper Swedish orthography.

Swedish podcasters and content creators

Generate subtitles and show notes from Swedish-language recordings. Compound words, å/ä/ö characters, and regional speech all handled correctly.

Researchers and academics in Scandinavia

Convert Swedish interviews, conference talks, and field recordings into text for qualitative analysis, linguistics research, and digital humanities projects.

Nordic media companies and translators

Transcribe Swedish broadcasts and use accurate transcripts as the foundation for subtitling, dubbing preparation, or translation into other languages.

Frequently asked questions

Can Vocova distinguish Swedish tonal accent minimal pairs?

Swedish has two contrastive tonal accents (accent 1 and accent 2) that create minimal pairs like anden (the duck) vs anden (the spirit), or tomten (the plot) vs tomten (Santa Claus). Our AI uses prosodic cues and sentence context to identify which word was spoken. Since both words in a tonal pair have different spellings in context, the correct written form is produced.

How does it handle the sje-sound when it varies so much by dialect?

The Swedish sje-sound /ɧ/ (in sju, skjorta, stjärna, station) has at least five distinct regional realizations across Sweden. Our AI is trained on speech from all major dialect regions and recognizes these variants, mapping them to the correct standard spelling regardless of the speaker's regional pronunciation.

Does it correctly join Swedish compound words?

Yes. Swedish compounds are written as single words (sjukhusundersökning, arbetsmarknadsminister), and incorrectly splitting them is a common error. Our AI identifies compound structures in the speech stream and joins them according to Swedish orthographic rules, including any required linking letters like -s- (tidningsartikel).

Are å, ä, and ö treated as separate letters?

Yes. In Swedish, å, ä, and ö are independent letters that come after z in the alphabet — they are not variants of a, o, or e. Our AI treats them as fully distinct characters. This matters for correct spelling: ö and o are different letters producing different words (för vs for), and all three are preserved accurately in every export format.

Which Swedish dialects and regional varieties are supported?

Vocova handles standard Stockholm Swedish (rikssvenska), Gothenburg dialect with its distinctive intonation, Skåne (Scanian) with its uvular r and Danish-influenced features, Norrland varieties with their clipped vowels, and Finland Swedish with its different prosodic patterns. The AI adapts to regional features while producing standard orthographic output.

How does it handle the long/short vowel distinction?

Swedish has strict complementary distribution where long vowels pair with short consonants and vice versa: tak (roof, long /aː/) vs tack (thanks, short /a/ + long /kː/). The AI uses this phonological constraint along with context to select the correct spelling between such minimal pairs.

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