Svenska landsmål och svenskt folkliv 2024-25

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Meddelanden och aktstycken

Ett påstått samiskt lånord i svenskan

Olle Kejonen

Source system: Publicera | Published: 2026-03-07 | Pages: 209-214

Abstract

AbstractThere are very few loanwords from the Saami languages in Swedish. Of the over 500,000 headwords in the Swedish Academy Dictionary (SAOB, 1893–2023), only some thirty lexemes are explained as Saami borrowings. One of these words is the noun sumla ‘female reindeer’, allegedly borrowed from an identical Saami form sumla. This etymology, however, seems to be based on a misunderstanding, as there is no such word recorded in any Saami language. Rather, sumla corresponds to native Swedish dialect forms such as såmmel, sommel, sumul ‘female reindeer’ (< Old Norse simul, cf. Norwegian simle id.).

Keywords

Swedish; Saami languages; etymology; loanwords

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