# All Scandinavian languages: to like someone



## ThomasK

I do not know any SWE, NOR, DAN, ..., but I just wondered: how do you translate 'like' in your languages ? And is 'love' different 

(In Dutch we say : 
   - _houden van_ (like, love), maybe _leuk vinden --- Ik hou van Z_
   - _liefhebben_, _beminnen _(love) [_minne_ = love, _lief_ has the same root as _love, i believe_] ---  Ik heb Z lief, ik bemin Z
   - ... )


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## Obil Tu

ThomasK said:


> I do not know any SWE, NOR, DAN, ..., but I just wondered: how do you translate 'like' in your languages ? And is 'love' different



In Norwegian we have "å like" ("to like"), "å være glad i" (approx. "to be fond of") and "å elske" ("to love").

Thus, "jeg liker X", "jeg er glad i X" or "jeg elsker X". "Like" is used as much for things as for people (e.g. food or activities).

There is generally more of a distinction between "å være glad i" and "å elske" than in English (they could both be translated with "to love"), and "å elske" is really more or less restricted to amorous and serious relationships.


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## ThomasK

Is 'elske' somehow related to some (West) Germanic word (ENG, GER, DUT) ? Can't think of any now, but...


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## Tech12

I agree that "elske" holds amorous connotations in Norwegian. I personally wouldn't say "Jeg elsker foreldrene/barna mine" ("I love my parents/children"), but I know that some would disagree. (For the record I would use "Jeg er glad i..." instead.)

There's also: "Jeg er forelsket i X" ("I am in love with X").
And: "De elsket" ("they made love").
And of course the hyperbolic: "Jeg elsker is" ("I love ice cream")


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## Obil Tu

ThomasK said:


> Is 'elske' somehow related to some (West) Germanic word (ENG, GER, DUT) ? Can't think of any now, but...



I have read that it's a West Germanic invention, but I can't think of any words in modern Germanic languages that it might be related to either... Apparently it's related to Norwegian "ild" ("fire") with the original sense of having warm feelings for someone, and is thus a metaphor. It has various derivatives in Norwegian, such as "elskov" ("love" [noun]/"act of love"), "elskede" ("beloved") and "elsker"/"elskerinne" ("lover"/"mistress").


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## Alxmrphi

I think the word for love took two different paths and 'elska/elske' was passed on from Old Norse while the West Germanic influences took a different form love/liebe etc..


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## dinji

ThomasK said:


> Is 'elske' somehow related to some (West) Germanic word (ENG, GER, DUT) ? Can't think of any now, but...


 
Historically the word has had the meaning 'nourish' at least when talking about animals. It is cognate to Latin _alere,_ 'to nourish' and to English _old_ (one who has had a lot of growing strength): http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE11.html 

I draw your attention to this thread, with a lot on the Scandinavian languages as well.


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## ThomasK

Thanks for the information, Dinji, including the reference to alere, and the ild/fire metaphor, Obil Tu: quite interesting !


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## dinji

The ild/fire metaphor is of course a so called folk etymology. It has some relevance as a contemporary association but it has nothing to do with the history of the word. _Ild_ is reconstructed as *_ai(d)lida-_


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## ThomasK

Good that you tell me. The _alere_ explanation did sound less romantic indeed ! ;-)


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## Pteppic

Obil Tu said:


> Apparently it's related to Norwegian "ild" ("fire") with the original sense of having warm feelings for someone, and is thus a metaphor.



Just as an aside point, I think the relation might be more recogniseable in Swedish and nynorsk, which have preserved the 'e' - "eld". The same possibly goes for Icelandic, but I don't know the language well enough to say.


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## Obil Tu

Pteppic said:


> Just as an aside point, I think the relation might be more recogniseable in Swedish and nynorsk, which have preserved the 'e' - "eld". The same possibly goes for Icelandic, but I don't know the language well enough to say.




Well, apparently it's "just" folk etymology anyway. I didn't know; I found it in an interview with a professor of etymology (http://www.hf.uio.no/ilos/for-ansatte/ILOS-posten/desember07/forskning.html – Norwegian only, I'm afraid! ) and assumed it was an accepted one. There's an excerpt of the alleged etymology on the bottom of the linked page, btw.


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## trosabon

I haven't read all links but in swedish  "like" means peer.  
e.g. to have one's peer = att ha sin like.

to like someone = att tycka om någon


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## hanne

Hehe, thanks for bouncing this thread - I meant to reply for Danish, but I forgot .

For "love" we have "elske" like the Norwegians.
For "like" we have "kan lide" (where "lide" literally means "suffer"), or a bit stronger and more commonly used "kan godt lide" ("godt" = "well").


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## dinji

Obil Tu said:


> Well, apparently it's "just" folk etymology anyway. I didn't know; I found it in an interview with a professor of etymology (http://www.hf.uio.no/ilos/for-ansatte/ILOS-posten/desember07/forskning.html – Norwegian only, I'm afraid! ) and assumed it was an accepted one. There's an excerpt of the alleged etymology on the bottom of the linked page, btw.


 
It takes time for new etymologies to establish themselves. Apparently we have a serious new proposal here, but will it carry?

How would this scholar explain that Old Danish/Swedish and Old Norwegian had _älsk-_ with a half open vowel? Starting from **ailiska- one should expect **eilska in Icelandic/Norwegian and **elska in Old Swedish.
May be some conditioning?

And what is supposedly wrong with the traditional etymology < _*aliska_?


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## dinji

Obil Tu said:


> Well, apparently it's "just" folk etymology anyway. I didn't know; I found it in an interview with a professor of etymology (http://www.hf.uio.no/ilos/for-ansatte/ILOS-posten/desember07/forskning.html – Norwegian only, I'm afraid! ) and assumed it was an accepted one. There's an excerpt of the alleged etymology on the bottom of the linked page, btw.


 


dinji said:


> It takes time for new etymologies to establish themselves. Apparently we have a serious new proposal here, but will it carry?
> 
> How would this scholar explain that Old Danish/Swedish and Old Norwegian had _älsk-_ with a half open vowel? Starting from **ailiska- one should expect **eilska in Icelandic/Norwegian and **elska in Old Swedish.
> May be some conditioning?
> 
> And what is supposedly wrong with the traditional etymology < _*aliska_?


 
Well, I bought this dictionary and it is really the most up to date and profound dictonary on the core of the inherited Scandinavian vocabulary. Best of all, it has systematically treated the Indo-European parallels and consistently serves us with reconstructed forms, including Proto-Germanic, Paleo-Germanic, Pre-Germanic and PIE with laryngeals. 

The author critisises the traditional established etymology for the Old Norse adjective elskr (supposedly < *aliska-) because it presupposes a derivate from a strong verb by means of *-iska- for which there are no parallels. Also for the semantic development ('nourishing' > 'loving') he claims no parallels can be found.

He also believes it to be phonologically problematic that *aliska- should have given elskr. *Daniska- has given dansk 'danish' and *batista- has given bazst (later by analogy best) 'best'. He admits though on this third argument that several interpratations of the data is possible. 

On _*ailisko:n_ he claims that *-aiCCC in this case could have given eCCC as in helg 'holyday' (and not eiCCC as in Old Norse _beisk_ 'bitter'). He does not refer to the East Scandinavian data but a quick look at the words that he refers to as parallels seem to verify that in this environment before a heavy consonant cluster the /ä/ of Old Swedish älska is not in contradicton with an origin from Common-Norse *aiCC < *aiCiC.

Upon reflection I see no reason why this new etymology could not become established as a first alterntive. NB though it is not a derivate from eld/ild 'fire' but both words would be parallell derivates from the extinct stem _aila-_, which is attested in Old Runic with a similar meaning as eld/ild.


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## JeanJean

Like is a weaker term of love. 
Love in swedish is amuch more stronger word than it is in english


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