# Swedish: Nanna (verb)



## ubik3

Hej allihopa! 

I'm sorry to post in english, I'm new on this forum (at least in swedish) and absolute begginer in this language... Really absolute, second lesson of my learning method!

I recently got a message from a friend (south swedish) and get the meaning of the phrase but there is a word I can't understand... Seems to be a verb.
Here is the phrase : 
Låg sött i min säng och nannade! Men inte så gott...trött!

(Was) Lying in my bed and nannade! But not so good... tired!

Any mistake in my translation? 
And what's the meaning of "nannade"; I've searched on the internet and dictionaries but can't find anything valuable... Maybe a spell mistake from my friend... or slang... Any idea?

Tack så mycket!


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## Halfdan

_nannade_ is the past tense of _nanna_, which, according to the Swedish Wiktionary, is related to _sova_ and _natta_. (to sleep)
_Sova_ is the most common, and _natta_ is directed more towards children. I've never heard _nanna_ used though.


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## ubik3

Thanks Halfdan!

While searching, I have been onto this page of the Swedish Wiktionary and hadn't even noticed the answer.
Like my friend, I must be ... trött! 

Thank you again.


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## AutumnOwl

As Halfdan mentions, nanna means to go to bed, and it's not that uncommon to use, especially by parents to young children, but also jokingly by adult, for example to say "_att nanna kudden_" when meaning going to bed.


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## ubik3

Yes AutumnOwl, I've found some places where the word was in use and quite got its meaning. There, I could see the link with _kudden_ and understood that it was obviously related to sleep and probably kids... (_Klockan är 01.26 och dags för kusiner och mig att nanna kudde._) But was impossible to find the word on any dictionary or verbs site and be sure.
Thank you!

btw... Your name AutumnOwl reminds me of a person, a Swede on an Internet Radio/Social Network (LastFm)... Her name is AutumnGirl, and her profile some months ago was Mayflowerse... In both case, her avatar is a very nice picture shot by herself... Like yours it seems... If your name was Anneli... that could be ... you! )
Thank you again!


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## Wilma_Sweden

Both nanna and sussa are verbs meaning to sleep, quite simply, at least when I grew up, but I agree that nanna kudde could also be interpreted as going to bed. Natta (verb) is the whole procedure of putting a child to bed, including any bedtime story/lullaby/what have you. The procedure is finished when the child is fast asleep and you're out of their bedroom, still awake! 
Here is a synonym dictionary where they both appear: http://www.synonymer.se/?query=nanna


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## bicontinental

Does anyone know the etymology of 'nanna'? I've never heard it in Danish...don't know about Norwegian, but in Italian 'andare a nanna' means 'go to bed' (infantile lingo).
Bic.


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## Wilma_Sweden

I haven't found any certain etymology except that it's derived from infantile language, possibly a simplification of "natt". It's found in some lullabys, too.


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## bicontinental

Thanks Wilma!
Bic.


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## ubik3

Wilma_Sweden said:


> .... the whole procedure of putting a child to bed, including any bedtime story/lullaby/what have you. The procedure is finished when the child is fast asleep and you're out of their bedroom, still awake!


Ha! You too!  Reminds me of some nights waiting for my daughter to fall asleep... and waking  up two hours later with the bed bars marks on my cheeks!

Thanks Wilma!


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## Wilma_Sweden

ubik3 said:


> Ha! You too!  Reminds me of some nights waiting for my daughter to fall asleep... and waking  up two hours later with the bed bars marks on my cheeks!


I think putting children to bed can be used as a euphemism for an early evening kip, in any language! The trick is to wake up before prime time TV starts!


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## Lugubert

The first time I heard "nana" (my preferred spelling; I most often have  heard it with a long first a) was from a distant relative who thought it  might be bedtime for me. Mother had to translate...

Mother used adult Swedish instead of nursery language when I was young. I think that got me a head start before my peers, because I didn't have to learn a new language as I approached school age. Never "toto", but "häst" from the very first equine, etc.


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## JohanIII

I agree with Lugubert's spelling, "nana". I've actully not seen it written, but is was frequently used by my grandparents (born c:a 1900).


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## Sepia

I have never heard that word before - I never had anything to do with children when I was in Sweden.

But somehow it is a word that also makes me feel like doing just that ...

Could it be that some words simply occur in peoples minds because they tend to trigger certain reactions - why I don't know. Could be something cultural that we carry in our subconscious minds. Could also be something that has to do with instincts that were developed even before we could even talk about culture.

I have never hearrd of any linguistic theories about this, but even ethymology can go as far back as language itself. Somehow humanoids must have come up with the first words and I don't think they picked some sounds by random. Is there anything that disproves that words could still occur in our minds the same way?


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## Wilma_Sweden

As far as I remember from my past but recent linguistics studies, human babies learn to pronunce the different phonemes in an order that is not random - bilabial consonants, e.g. */m/*, and open vowel sounds such as */a/,  *are the easiest to produce for the untrained baby mouth. Therefore, it's hardly surprising that words for mother, particularly colloquial or infantile forms, are short and contain variants of those phonemes. /p/ or /d/ are also 'easy' ones, so variants for father such as papa, daddy etc are no accident either, and of course children themselves transform 'difficult' names, e.g. eyik for Erik etc.

We are all born with the capability to produce any phonemes, but as we give preferential treatment to those of our native language, we soon 'forget' how to pronounce the others until we need them when learning a new language. Some studies suggest that we get conditioned to a certain language already before birth (in the last trimester), as soon as our hearing is sufficiently developed. Needless to say, hearing is essential to learning pronunciation.

 Culture is of course a huge part of the equation - how we understand the meaning of words, which words are taboo(*) etc. 

(*) There is an interesting recent thread in Culture Café about swearing and how we perceive swearing in a foreign language vs our first language.


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