Origins of the Swedish "gift"

[robbie_SWE]

Hi!

This word is actually quite funny, because it means two different things.

Gift = poison (e.g. Hon drack gift < she drank poison)

Gift = married (e.g. Han har gift sig < he got married)

I'm aware that this word must have two etymologies, but I can't seem to find them anywhere. Or did my Swedish ancestors have very depressing thoughts about married life?

robbie

 

[Spectre scolaire]

The two words have the same etymology. Have a look at Svenska Akademiens ordbok (on-line).

In both cases it is “something you give”. A woman or some poison – what the heck... Remember, though, that the context in which these words appear in a sentence is so different that nobody would find it funny.

Extracting the context - like we often do in dictionaries! - makes a lot of things “funny”. In fact, a word never appears on its own, it is always contextually determined.

​

 

[robbie_SWE]

The two words have the same etymology. Have a look at Svenska Akademiens ordbok (on-line).

In both cases it is “something you give”. A woman or some poison – what the heck... Remember, though, that the context in which these words appear in a sentence is so different that nobody would find it funny.

Extracting the context - like we often do in dictionaries! - makes a lot of things “funny”. In fact, a word never appears on its own, it is always contextually determined.

​

I see now! It actually makes sence, but it is a bit odd (not funny).

robbie