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==Vocabulary== The [[vocabulary]] of Swedish is mainly Germanic, either through common Germanic heritage or through loans from German, Middle Low German, and to some extent, English. Examples of Germanic words in Swedish are ''mus'' ("mouse"), ''kung'' ("king"), and ''gås'' ("goose"). A significant part of the religious and scientific vocabulary is of [[Latin]] or [[Greek language|Greek]] origin, often borrowed from [[French language|French]] and, lately, English. Some 1–200 words are also borrowed from [[Scandoromani language|Scandoromani]] or [[Romani language|Romani]], often as slang varieties; a commonly used word from Romani is ''[[:wikt:tjej|tjej]]'' ("girl").<ref>{{Harvnb|Wessén|1998}}</ref> A large number of [[French language|French]] words were imported into Sweden around the 18th century. These words have been [[transcription (linguistics)|transcribed]] to the Swedish spelling system and are therefore pronounced recognizably to a French-speaker. Most of them are distinguished by a "French accent", characterized by emphasis on the last syllable. For example, ''nivå'' (fr. ''niveau'', "level"), ''fåtölj'' (fr. ''fauteuil'', "armchair") and ''affär'' ("shop; affair"), etc. Cross-borrowing from other Germanic languages has also been common, at first from Middle Low German, the [[lingua franca]] of the [[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic league]] and later from [[Standard German]]. Some compounds are translations of the elements ([[calque]]s) of German original compounds into Swedish, like ''{{lang|sv|bomull}}'' from German ''{{lang|de|Baumwolle}}'' ("cotton"; literally, ''tree-wool'').<ref>Nationalencyklopedin, ''svenska: språkhistoria''</ref> As with many Germanic languages, new words can be formed by compounding, e. g., nouns like ''{{lang|sv|nagellackborttagningsmedel}}'' ("nail polish remover") or verbs like ''{{lang|sv|smyglyssna}}'' ("to eavesdrop").<ref name=CompoundNoun/><ref>{{cite web |title=Smyglyssna |url=http://ordbok.woxikon.se/sv-en/smyglyssna |website=Woxikon |access-date=3 March 2018 |archive-date=3 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303164735/http://ordbok.woxikon.se/sv-en/smyglyssna |url-status=live }}</ref> Compound nouns take their [[grammatical gender|gender]] from the [[head (linguistics)|head]], which in Swedish is always the last morpheme.<ref name=CompoundNoun>{{cite web |title=Minor Grammar English-Swedish |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/194349317/Minor-Grammar-English-Swedish |publisher=Scribd |access-date=3 March 2018 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807203447/https://www.scribd.com/document/194349317/Minor-Grammar-English-Swedish |url-status=live }}</ref> New words can also be coined by [[Morphological derivation|derivation]] from other established words, such as the [[verbification]] of [[noun]]s by the adding of the [[suffix#Derivational suffixes|suffix]] ''-a'', as in ''{{lang|sv|bil}}'' ("car") and ''{{lang|sv|bila}}'' ("travel (recreationally) by car").<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Gomer |editor1-first=Eva |editor2-last=Morris-Nygren |editor2-first=Mona |title=Bila |series=Modern Svensk Engelsk Ordbok |date=1976 |publisher=Prisma |page=57}}</ref> The opposite, making nouns of verbs, is also possible, as in ''{{lang|sv|tänk}}'' ("way of thinking; concept") from ''{{lang|sv|tänka}}'' ("to think").<ref>{{cite web|title=Språket lever {{!}} tänk|url=https://www.sprakinstitutet.fi/sv/aktuellt/spraket_lever/tank.20235.news|publisher=Institutet för de inhemska språken|access-date=3 March 2018|language=sv|date=18 February 2016|archive-date=4 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304054810/https://www.sprakinstitutet.fi/sv/aktuellt/spraket_lever/tank.20235.news|url-status=dead }}</ref>
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