 Some important changes in sound during the Modern Swedish period were the gradual assimilation of several different consonant clusters into the fricative [ ʃ ] and later into [ ɧ ] . There was also the gradual softening of [ ɡ ] and [ k ] into [ j ] and the fricative [ ɕ ] before front vowels . The velar fricative [ ɣ ] was also transformed into the corresponding plosive [ ɡ ] . 
