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Glite Dictionary
Swedish language

Swedish language

4.2
A language spoken in Sweden and parts of Finland
  • noun
translation icon : idioma sueco
  • "I landed up in the small, friendly village of Vrigstad, in Småland, and once there, I fell in love with the music of the Swedish language."

Examples

  • I grew up surrounded by Swedes and Swedish-Americans, Swedish traditions, and the Swedish language.

  • The king's passion for theater eventually came to focus upon its potential to "improve" the Swedish language.

    Academic text (2000)

  • One was his attachment to the royal family, and the other was his burning passion for the Swedish language.

    Academic text (1996)

  • I grew up surrounded by Swedes and Swedish-Americans, Swedish traditions, and the Swedish language.

    Blog text (3)

  • Although it was required of all diplomats in the Swedish-Norwegian service to use the Swedish language in their reports, Ibsen consistently refused to write anything but Norwegian.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The questionnaire, which was administered in the Swedish language, was launched through a Swedish portal site called Passagen (http://www.passagen.se) that is part of the Eniro Corporation.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The academy was founded in 1786 as the arbiter of Swedish language and letters, and it continues to influence literature today.

  • One recent afternoon, 16 men and women, mostly Kosovans and Bosnians, were attending a voluntary Swedish language class.

Synonyms

Swedish
vsSwedish language
14 3.5

A language spoken mainly in Sweden and parts of Finland

is the constitutionally recognized language of Sweden and one of Finland's two official tongues

Surface Forms

Swedish language singular

Morphology

Swedish + language

The meaning is fully compositional: 'Swedish' identifies the nationality/language name and 'language' denotes a system of speech, so the phrase directly means 'the language of Sweden'. This adj‑noun construction is cross‑linguistically common and follows standard English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Swedish language comes from Swedish, the word for the people of 'Sweden', and language, meaning the way people speak. So Swedish language simply means the way people in 'Sweden' speak, and it is close to the languages of nearby countries, which is why they often sound similar.