# Swedish: Mjölkpulver / Mjölkspulver



## Riveritos

Hello,
If I want to say milk powder, which term is correct: _mjölkpulver _or  _mjölkspulver_?
I find both on Swedish sites but google says _mjölkspulver _is wrong.
Thanks in advance for your help.


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## BlueSuede

"Mjölk*s*pulver"  is wrong, the correct alternative is "mjölkpulver" .
Just don't ask me why.


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## Riveritos

BlueSuede said:


> "Mjölk*s*pulver"  is wrong, the correct alternative is "mjölkpulver" .
> Just don't ask me why.



Thank you, so is it also a mistake _skummjölkspulver_? should it be _skummjölkpulver _?


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## Tjahzi

BlueSuede said:


> "Mjölk*s*pulver"  is wrong, the correct alternative is "mjölkpulver" .
> Just don't ask me why.


It's due to _mjölk_ being monosyllabic.

(Meaning, it is indeed _skummjälkspulver_ (since it's polysyllabic)).


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## BlueSuede

There is a park in Göteborg called "Slottsskogen". Meaning "Slotts-skogen" and not "Slottskogen". Note that Slott part is only one syllable. (See further www.goteborg.se/slottsskogen)
I don't really believe in the monosyllabic explanation.


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## etaro

Riveritos said:


> Thank you, so is it also a mistake _skummjölkspulver_? should it be _skummjölkpulver _?




Crist, this language doesn't make sense sometimes.

The two correct words are as mentioned above:

Mjölkpulver
and
Skummjölk*s*pulver


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## AutumnOwl

BlueSuede said:


> There is a park in Göteborg called "Slottsskogen". Meaning "Slotts-skogen" and not "Slottskogen". Note that Slott part is only one syllable. (See further www.goteborg.se/slottsskogen)
> I don't really believe in the monosyllabic explanation.


I agree that the monosyllabic explanation is not true, take for example bord*s*ben and brödkorg.


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## Wilma_Sweden

AutumnOwl said:


> I agree that the monosyllabic explanation is not true, take for example bord*s*ben and brödkorg.



I disagree, the monosyllabic 'rule' is a handy rule of thumb, it is true most of the time, and as we all know, there are very few rules that don't have exceptions. Bord is one, it does take an -s- interfix in compounds. I've commented on the -s- interfix in a couple of previous threads, always referring back to this article by professor Lars-Olof Delsing, a scholar in Nordic languages (see links below).
Article: Foge-s (p 4-9): http://www.sprakradet.se/3133
Previous threads: 
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1382843&p=7013760#post7013760
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1288179&p=6610356#post6610356


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## Tjahzi

Indeed. While it's not completely water-proof, the rule is a handy tool and definitely preferable to learning every single case by heart.


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## Lugubert

Wilma_Sweden said:


> Article: Foge-s (p 4-9): http://www.sprakradet.se/3133



Lovely find! It even includes my favourite example _skolbokhylla_ vs. _skolbok*s*hylla.
_
There should have been more comments on _chefssekreterare_. I make a difference between _chefsekreterare _(principal sec'y) and _chef*s*sekreterare _(sec'y for a manager/director etc.)

Other linking letters deserve another thread (_gatsten, gat*u*beläggning; kyrktak, kyrk*o*gård; jordgubbe, jord*e*mor_ ...)


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## Wilma_Sweden

Lugubert said:


> Lovely find! _..._Other linking letters deserve another thread (_gatsten, gat*u*beläggning; kyrktak, kyrk*o*gård; jordgubbe, jord*e*mor_ ...)


I agree partly - the whole concept of linking compound nouns with interfixes (or not as the case may be) deserves a thread of its own for each language. Now we have scattered comments in different threads, and there may be more, but they're hard to find since there are no obvious clues in the thread titles.

I might add, in light of Lugubert's examples, that the rule for monosyllables may be just a wee bit flaky, and the best advice for those might be to look them up.


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## Ben Jamin

In Norwegian the rule is that the 's' is added if the compund is a "two storey's" one, that is if it consists of two words whith the first being a compound itself. But this is not a consistent rule.


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## BlueSuede

Wilma_Sweden said:


> ... that the rule for monosyllables may be just a wee bit flaky, and the best advice for those might be to look them up.



So, to sum it up: The "monosyllabic rule" holds only if it is not an exception. There is no rule wether it is an exception or not, and there are plenty of them, so you have to look it up anyway. Right?

In the case "mjölk-pulver" the rule holds.
In the case "Slotts-skogen" it doesn't hold. I am curious of why?

Sometimes I am happy that I am born in Sweden and have Swedish as my native language. I wouldn't ever be able to learn it as an adult.


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## Wilma_Sweden

BlueSuede said:


> So, to sum it up: The "monosyllabic rule" holds only if it is not an exception. There is no rule wether it is an exception or not, and there are plenty of them, so you have to look it up anyway. Right?
> 
> In the case "mjölk-pulver" the rule holds.
> In the case "Slotts-skogen" it doesn't hold. I am curious of why?


OK, after having read prof Delsing's article again, I think I've got it:  
*1) The first part of the compound has to be a single morpheme, but not necessarily a monosyllable. *
The main rule is '*don't add an -s in the compound*'. e.g. volymmätning, stålverk, mjölkpulver, pulversoppa. 
*2) If the morpheme is ancient, it's more likely to break the rule.* 
In old Swedish, masculine and neuter nouns had a genitive suffix -s, while feminine nouns had other suffixes. That would explain why slott takes an -s, but mjölk doesn't. Gata compounds either as gat- or gatu-, (e.g. gatsten, gatukontor), but never gats-. Kyrka: kyrk- or kyrko-. These old words are often but not always monosyllabic. 
*3) If the morpheme is a loan word, it's more likely to behave erratically: * *chef*redaktör, *chefs*sekreterare, *sports*mannamässig, *sport*hall. 

I don't know if this is any more helpful, but I then I don't think using a dictionary is a problem, particularly these days when it takes only a few keystrokes to look something up.


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