Swedish word of the day: jul
Here's the next word in The Local's Christmas-themed word of the day series, running from December 1st to Christmas Eve.
The festive season is well and truly upon us, so what better time to take a look at the Swedish word for Christmas?
That word is jul, which you'll hear in the greeting God Jul! (Merry Christmas!) and as a prefix added to just about any noun or word to give it a festive feel, such as julsång (Christmas song), julstämning (Christmas atmosphere), julshoppa (to shop for Christmas gifts and items), julmat (Christmas food), julstäda (to clean the house for Christmas)... we could go on.
And on and on: if there's one thing Swedes enjoy more than holiday preparations, it's creating compound words. Another option is to turn jul into an adjective: julig means "Christmassy".
English speakers might spy a resemblance to the outdated term "yule", and there are related words in most Nordic languages: Norwegian and Danish jul, Icelandic jól, and Finnish joulua. All these words do indeed share an origin in Old Norse jól and can be traced further back to similar words in proto-Germanic languages.
In both English and Swedish today, jul and yule are specific references to Christmas: the Christian holiday and the surrounding season.
But that wasn’t always so.
The meaning of older forms of the word jul were used to define different parts of the winter season depending on where in Sweden or Scandinavia the speaker was located.
In fact, language historians aren't sure exactly where it originally came from or what it meant in the earliest times, whether it was always linked to a specific festival or feast, or started out as a more general term for the winter season. The only thing that's known for certain is that it predates the Christian celebration of Christmas, and that you'll hear it a lot throughout December in Sweden.
Example sentences:
Jul, jul, strålande jul, glans över vita skogar
Christmas, Christmas, brilliant Christmas, shine over white forests (lyrics to a beloved wintery tune)
Snart är det jul!
It's nearly Christmas!
Need a good Christmas gift idea?
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is now available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it – or join The Local as a member and get your copy for free.
It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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The festive season is well and truly upon us, so what better time to take a look at the Swedish word for Christmas?
That word is jul, which you'll hear in the greeting God Jul! (Merry Christmas!) and as a prefix added to just about any noun or word to give it a festive feel, such as julsång (Christmas song), julstämning (Christmas atmosphere), julshoppa (to shop for Christmas gifts and items), julmat (Christmas food), julstäda (to clean the house for Christmas)... we could go on.
And on and on: if there's one thing Swedes enjoy more than holiday preparations, it's creating compound words. Another option is to turn jul into an adjective: julig means "Christmassy".
English speakers might spy a resemblance to the outdated term "yule", and there are related words in most Nordic languages: Norwegian and Danish jul, Icelandic jól, and Finnish joulua. All these words do indeed share an origin in Old Norse jól and can be traced further back to similar words in proto-Germanic languages.
In both English and Swedish today, jul and yule are specific references to Christmas: the Christian holiday and the surrounding season.
But that wasn’t always so.
The meaning of older forms of the word jul were used to define different parts of the winter season depending on where in Sweden or Scandinavia the speaker was located.
In fact, language historians aren't sure exactly where it originally came from or what it meant in the earliest times, whether it was always linked to a specific festival or feast, or started out as a more general term for the winter season. The only thing that's known for certain is that it predates the Christian celebration of Christmas, and that you'll hear it a lot throughout December in Sweden.
Example sentences:
Jul, jul, strålande jul, glans över vita skogar
Christmas, Christmas, brilliant Christmas, shine over white forests (lyrics to a beloved wintery tune)
Snart är det jul!
It's nearly Christmas!
Need a good Christmas gift idea?
Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is now available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it – or join The Local as a member and get your copy for free.
It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.
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