# Swedish: butik /affär



## AnnieTC

I encountered the word in 
videobutik
teknikaffär

To me both means store, but can them be 100% interchanged? Or is there any difference?


----------



## Wilma_Sweden

I'd say they're 90% interchangeable on their own, but butik is slightly more formal, affär being more colloquial. They are used alone or in different compounds. Beware, though, that in compounds, either of them is more common than the other, then they're not very interchangeable. For example, I would always say videobutik, not videoaffär, and always skoaffär, not skobutik. This is just a matter of habit, tradition and convenience, and in the case of teknikaffär, I'd say convenience: teknikbutik is hard to pronounce, and sounds a bit strange, while teknikaffär "flows" more easily, if you see what I mean.


----------



## AnnieTC

That makes sense, very well explained, thank you very much!


----------



## Lugubert

Wilma_Sweden said:


> and always skoaffär, not skobutik


But a _skoboutique_ would peddle some seriously expensive stuff.


----------



## AutumnOwl

Wilma_Sweden said:


> I'd say they're 90% interchangeable on their own, but butik is slightly more formal, affär being more colloquial. They are used alone or in different compounds. Beware, though, that in compounds, either of them is more common than the other, then they're not very interchangeable. For example, I would always say videobutik, not videoaffär, and always skoaffär, not skobutik. This is just a matter of habit, tradition and convenience, and in the case of teknikaffär, I'd say convenience: teknikbutik is hard to pronounce, and sounds a bit strange, while teknikaffär "flows" more easily, if you see what I mean.


For me the difference between _butik_ and _affär_ is not so much about being formal or colloquial, it more about the size of the shop. I would use _butik_ about a smaller shop and _affär_ about a larger shop, a supermarket is an _affär_, I would never call it a _butik_. I agree that it's easier to say _teknikbutik _and _videobutik_, or _handarbetsaffär_ (even when it's a small shop), but when it comes to shoes, I use both _skoaffär _and _skobutik_, depending on size, as well as _livsmedelsaffär_ (ICA Maxi) and _livsmedelsbutik_ (ICA Nära).


----------



## Tjahzi

I partially agree with AutumnOwl. While there is a difference in size, to me, _butik_ is a hyponym of _affär_.


----------



## Wilma_Sweden

Tjahzi said:


> I partially agree with AutumnOwl. While there is a difference in size, to me, _butik_ is a hyponym of _affär_.


I disagree, I would consider butik the hypernym. We have three major type of outlets: butiksförsäljning, postorderförsäljning, dörrförsäljning, where 'butik' would be any outlet/point of sale to which customers arrive in person to perform a goods-for-money transaction. Postal order (including web stores) sales and door-to-door sales are different in that respect, there's no shop to go to.


----------



## Tjahzi

Well, I still consider _butik_ to by the hyponym. Swedish compound nouns are formed way to arbitrarily for the existance of the term "_butiksförsäljng" _being an indicator of the value of the word _butik_. 

On a side note, wiktionary defines _butik_ as a small _affär_.


----------



## timtfj

Tjahzi said:


> Well, I still consider _butik_ to by the hyponym. Swedish compound nouns are formed way to arbitrarily for the existance of the term "_butiksförsäljng" _being an indicator of the value of the word _butik_.
> 
> On a side note, wiktionary defines _butik_ as a small _affär_.


I'm confused, because _hypo-_ means less of something and _hyper-_ means more of it. One of you is using the word _hyponym_ and the other is using _hypernym_. I've not come across the terms before but they should mean the opposite of each other . . .


----------



## Wilma_Sweden

timtfj said:


> I'm confused, because _hypo-_ means less of something and _hyper-_ means more of it. One of you is using the word _hyponym_ and the other is using _hypernym_. I've not come across the terms before but they should mean the opposite of each other . . .


Hypernym and hyponym define the vertical relationship between words, in that a hypernym has a more general meaning, a higher order, as opposed to hyponym, which has a more specified meaning, like a "subspecies". Example: tree is a hypernym of willow, pine or oak, and these subspecies are hyponyms of tree. If point-of-sale is any outlet where customers congregate phyisically to exchange goods for money, it would be a hypernym of shop, store or market, which are then hyponyms of point-of-sale. The hyponyms, then, don't necessarily have to be synonymous with each other, although they may in some cases be more or less so. 

Tjahzi and I are in disagreement over butik, hence the confusion. Sorry! I don't trust Wiktionary, it's a user-contributed dictionary. I used the compounds above as an argument for butik being the hypernym, but I have to admit it may be a somewhat tenuous argument. Word meanings and word usages are, as we have noticed, more often than not subject to lengthy discussion... 

Edit: I just came across a suitable hypernym of any type of shops: försäljningsställe. It's also the translation equivalent of point-of-sale, all according to Nationalencyclopedin.


----------



## JohanIII

I partly... am confused.

If you take older (con)texts like Evert Taube's "Fritjof och Carmencita" where _butik_ is mentioned, or sth. out of a _pilsnerfilm_ (30's-40's folksy films), I was about to say that _butik_ feels older and smaller. But then I'd think "therefore smaller", as in older times stores were generally smaller, even those called _affär_ at that time.

Perhaps a source of intermingling in the vertical (hierarchy):
 The more specialised an ... is, the smaller it would be, whether usage dictates or suggests either term.

Timfitj: Hypo is sub as in submarine, hyper is super (or supra) as in superimposed [i.e. Greek vs. Latin]. And: hypoderm.

I feel I now have to change my wiki-tag-line...


----------



## timtfj

JohanIII said:


> I partly... am confused.
> Timfitj: Hypo is sub as in submarine, hyper is super (or supra) as in superimposed [i.e. Greek vs. Latin]. And: hypoderm.
> I feel I now have to change my wiki-tag-line...


Yes---my concern was simply that it looked as though people might be accidentally using the wrong one or using them interchangeably, so I was unsure whether what I was reading was what they meant.


----------



## merryweather

Interesting thread, good information for a newbie.


----------



## chinaman

I would say you could use them both


----------

