There is a very peculiar issue in Sweden when it comes to spelling. I imagine something similar to it exists in other Germanic language speaking countries. Here I like to call it the compound word problem.

As with most Germanic languages Swedish uses the compound word structure when creating nouns. That means that you call a meatball a "meatball" and not a "meat ball". But you also call a chicken meatball a "chickenmeatball". The Swedish term for this problem: särskrivningsproblematik, split compound problematics, is an excellent example.

The problem is when you create separate words rather than compound ones. This poses an even greater problem as it often completely changes the intended meaning. For example "chickenliver", if written "chicken liver" in Swedish, means "the chicken lives". This is dangerous if you are referring to say frozen chicken livers. (That example is probably the oldest most worn out joke in Swedish history. The mere mention of chicken livers will more than likely provoke someone to go through the whole song and dance.) The vast amount of English present in this country has caused this type of issue to become and more common. If you want to identify with this problem as an English speaker compare "blue berries" to "blueberries" and "ham burger" to "hamburger".

On the other side of the coin, in Swedish, you also have the problem of creating compound words when the words should be separated. As the sign above on a well known English (style) pub in Stockholm shows. It is completely accurate, in Swedish, as a food lover is known as a matälskare (one word) and a öljägare (one word) is the direct translation of a beer hunter. It looks very wrong in English and is very ironic considering the bar styles itself to be an English pub and even goes so far as to have their signs in English in a non-English speaking country - and then makes a rather severe grammar mistake. This of course is a rather harmless example and most people can easily decipher the meaning of the sign. A bigger problem would be if you were taking a class that was held six times in the evening. Say a French class, because you wanted to learn the language of love and Gérard Depardieu. Then you would be speaking French on these six evenings. (You can see where this is going.) You would, however, not want to write that you were speaking French on "sexkvällar", because that is probably what Gérard Depardieu, and whoever he is together with, are doing. And you are most certainly not.

So, when to put words together and when to keep them apart. Are they together in English or are they separate? If they are separate in English should they be separate in Swedish...and vice versa or viceversa or is it vice-versa. You can see why it's a problem. For every one.

Permalink    Labels: Food, Stockholm, Wackiness