Swedish Dictionary
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SOURCE
Swedish
Genealogical
Word List |
|
Table of Contents
Language
Characteristics
Additional
Resources
Key
Words
General
Word List
Å
Ä
Ö
Numbers
Dates
And Time
This list contains Swedish words with their English translations. The words
included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources. If
the word you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a
Swedish-English dictionary. (See the "Additional Resources" section
below.)
Swedish is a Germanic language, as are Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic. Most
differences between modern and old Swedish are simply a matter of spelling.
Carefully study the Spelling section in "Language Characteristics"
below. This will help you find the words in this list.
Swedish is spoken in Sweden and parts of Finland. The Swedish language was
used in official records of Finland until the end of the 1800s.
LANGUAGE
CHARACTERISTICS
Variant
Forms of Words
In Swedish, as in English, the forms of some words will vary according to how
they are used in a sentence. Who—whose—whom or marry—marries—
married are examples of words in English with variant forms. The endings of
a word in a document may differ from those in this list. Also, vowels sometimes
have diacritical marks in different forms of the same word. Note the following
examples:
| man |
man |
yrke |
profession |
| mannen |
the
man |
yrket |
the
profession |
| män |
men |
yrken |
professions |
| männen |
the
men |
yrkena |
the
professions |
Alphabetical
Order
Written Swedish has three letters not found in English: Å (å), Ä (ä), and
Ö (ö). Alphabetically, these letters come after z. Swedish dictionaries,
indexes, the locality section of the Family
History Library Catalog ,
and this word list use the following alphabetical order:
| a
b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z å ä ö |
Spelling
Spelling rules were not standardized in earlier centuries. The following
spelling variations are common:
| ä |
used
for |
e |
| i |
used
for |
j |
| j |
used
for |
g,
gj, hj, lj, dj |
| k |
used
for |
ck,
ch, g, gg, c, q |
| t |
used
for |
d,
th, tt |
| v |
used
for |
hv,
fv, ffv, f, w |
| tj |
used
for |
k,
kj, ch |
| sk |
used
for |
skj,
sch, sj, stj |
| s |
used
for |
ss,
c, z |
Examples:
| änka |
spelled
as |
enka |
| mjölnare |
spelled
as |
miölnare |
| kärr |
spelled
as |
tjärr |
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ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES
This word list includes only words most commonly found in genealogical
sources. For further help, use a Swedish-English dictionary. Several
Swedish-English dictionaries are available at the Family
History Library.
These are in the Scandinavian collection. Their call numbers begin with
439.7321.
The following dictionary is also available on microfilm for use in Family
History Centers:
Ernolv, Carl. Svensk-Engelsk
Ordbok [Swedish-English Dictionary]. Stockholm: Svenska Bokförlaget
Norstedts, 1947. (FHL film 1,124,531, item 12).
Björkman, C.G. Svensk-Englesk
Ordbok [Swedish- English Dictionary]. Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt, 1889. (FHL
film 1,224,734, item 1). Swedish spelling was reformed in 1906. Since this
dictionary was written in 1889, it shows words as they were spelled before 1906.
Additional dictionaries are listed in the Subject section of the Family
History Library Catalog
under SWEDISH LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES or in the Locality section under SWEDEN -
LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES.
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KEY
WORDS
To find and use specific types of Swedish records, you will need to know some
key words in Swedish. This section lists key genealogical terms in English and
the Swedish words with the same or similar meanings.
For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage.
In the second column you will find Swedish words with meanings such as marry,
marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, legitimate, joined,and other words used
in Swedish records to indicate marriage.
| English |
Swedish |
| banns |
lysning |
| birth |
födda,
födde, född, födelse |
| burial |
begravning |
| child |
barn |
| christening |
döpta,
döpte, döpt, döpelse, dop |
| clerical
survey |
husförhörslängd |
| confirmation |
konfirmation |
| death |
döda,
döde, död, avliden, avsomna |
| father |
far,
fader |
| female |
kvinnkjön,
kvinna |
| household,
examination roll |
husförhörslängd,
förhör |
| husband |
man,
make |
| index |
register |
| male |
mankjön,
man |
| marriage |
vigda,
vigde, vigd, vigsel, gift, gifte, giftermål, bröllop, brudfolk |
| military |
militär,
soldat |
| mother |
mor,
moder |
| moving
in |
inflyttning |
| moving
out |
utflyttning |
| name,
given |
förnamn |
| name,
surname |
efternamn |
| parents |
föräldrar |
| parish |
socken,
församling, kommun |
| probate |
boupptekning |
| wife |
hustru,
maka |
| year |
år |
For more Swedish Dictionaries:
|
Swedish Glossary