# Swedish speakers, can you help me parse this word? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 19, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758 "2016-06-19T05:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/1 "2016-06-19T05:48:35Z")
I recently had the occasion to come across the Swedish word _häpnadsväckande_, or “astonishing”, as in _Likheten är häpnadsväckandep_, or “the resemblence is astonishing”. Based on extensive knowledge of German and English, and somewhat less knowledge of various other Germanic languages, I know enough to be curious about Swedish, but not enough to back it up with action. I’m curious aout this word _häpnadsväckande_. I surmise that the _-ande_ ending is a gerund marker, just as “-ing” is in English. If I’m right about that, then _häpnadsväck-_ must be some kind of a verb of some kind, most likely a compound verb from the looks of it. What would that verb be, and if it is a compound or prefixed verb, what would those other constituents be? ---
**Author:** ![krunen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@krunen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krunen)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/2 "2016-06-19T06:33:09Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I recently had the occasion to come across the Swedish word _häpnadsväckande_, or “astonishing”, as in _Likheten är häpnadsväckandep_, or “the resemblence is astonishing”. > > Based on extensive knowledge of German and English, and somewhat less knowledge of various other Germanic languages, I know enough to be curious about Swedish, but not enough to back it up with action. I’m curious aout this word _häpnadsväckande_. I surmise that the _-ande_ ending is a gerund marker, just as “-ing” is in English. If I’m right about that, then _häpnadsväck-_ must be some kind of a verb of some kind, most likely a compound verb from the looks of it. > > What would that verb be, and if it is a compound or prefixed verb, what would those other constituents be? häpnad: wonder, amazement, surprise. väckande: awakening, rising ---
**Author:** ![Huvudtvatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Huvudtvatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huvudtvatt)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/3 "2016-06-19T13:02:42Z")
As you suspected the -ande ending signifies something that is presently going on, like a gerund marker, though in Swedish the verb form is called the present participle (Swedish: presens particip). The nominative form of the verb is “väcka”, cognate of the German word “wecken” and the English “wake”, in the sense of waking someone up. “Häpnad” (“astonishment”), comes from the verb “häpna”, adjective “häpen” - astonished. A north germanic word originally meaning “to quickly draw ones breath”, or “pant”. probably onomatopoetic. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/4 "2016-06-19T14:20:27Z")
Interesting answers, thanks both of you. So the English word “happen” probably came from the same Nordic root. According to [etymonline.com](http://etymonline.com) the word existed in OE as “hæppen” but I suspect it was brought over by the Danes and was not a native word. Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/5 "2016-06-19T20:41:58Z")
Modern English _happen_ may well be from an Old Norse verb form related to the Old Norse noun _happ_ (=“good fortune”) and Icelandic noun _happ_ (=“luck” whether good or bad). Other modern English words from the same Proto-Germanic root include \*mishap, happy, happenstance, \* etc., all ultimately from the PIE root kob-, which suggested success or a good fit. I doubt the Swedish _häpen_ is at all related though. Recall that in Swedish, the letter **Ä/ä** is considered to be a separate letter of the alphabet from the letter **A/a**. It usually corresponds to **Æ** in Icelandic. I found a [Swedish dictionary online](http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/) with some etymological information under the entry for _häpen_. My Swedish isn’t good enough to be sure but I don’t think it’s related to English _happen_. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2016, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/6 "2016-06-20T02:12:49Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I doubt the Swedish _häpen_ is at all related though. Recall that in Swedish, the letter **Ä/ä** is considered to be a separate letter of the alphabet from the letter **A/a**. It usually corresponds to **Æ** in Icelandic. I found a [Swedish dictionary online](http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/) with some etymological information under the entry for _häpen_. My Swedish isn’t good enough to be sure but I don’t think it’s related to English _happen_. You are probably right. E. Hellquist _Svensk etymologisk ordbok_ (3:d ed., 1980) gives the following etymology (my translation): "_häpen_, NT 1526; from older _hipen, compare Sw. dialect. hip(p)en, full of expectation [—] related to Sw. dial._ hipa\*, gasp for breath [—]; onomatopoetic, like Sw. dial.\* kipa\*, pant. It’s cool that hanging out here teaches me stuff about my own native language that I didn’t know before! ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/7 "2016-06-21T13:46:23Z")
> [@krunen](#): > > häpnad: wonder, amazement, surprise. > > väckande: awakening, rising _väckande_ would also be instantly recognizable to a German speaker (_weckend_). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/8 "2016-06-21T16:24:45Z")
My Norwegian dictionary gives “häp” as meaning expected, usual. Quite a bit different from “happ”: luck, fortune. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/9 "2018-10-02T04:09:03Z")
> [@Huvudtvatt](#): > > As you suspected the -ande ending signifies something that is presently going on, like a gerund marker, though in Swedish the verb form is called the present participle (Swedish: presens particip). We likewise do call it a present participle in English, but I’m not sure in what context that happens. I could be all wrong, but IIRC an English teacher in school would have called that a present participle. A university linguistics professor would call it a gerund. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/10 "2018-10-02T04:34:05Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > We likewise do call it a present participle in English, but I’m not sure in what context that happens. I could be all wrong, but IIRC an English teacher in school would have called that a present participle. A university linguistics professor would call it a gerund. A present participle is a verb denoting continuing action. They end in -ing. “Are you asking me a question?” A gerund has the same form (i.e., a verb word ending -ing) but it is used as a noun. “The answer is yours for the asking.” ---
**Author:** ![Frankenstein\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@Frankenstein\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankenstein_Monster)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/11 "2018-10-02T13:17:18Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > _väckande_ would also be instantly recognizable to a German speaker (_weckend_). In Dutch there is _verbazingwekkend_, which uses the same second part ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/12 "2018-10-02T13:35:26Z")
Those Vikings got around a bit for sure…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swedish-speakers-can-you-help-me-parse-this-word/757758/13 "2018-10-02T13:54:03Z")
I just want to add that _häpna_ (v.) carries a lot of connotations, all more or less boiling down to surprise: consternate dumbfound surprise overwhelm perplex horrify appall revere venerate as an adjective - _häpen_ eager keen sudden hasty As always, depending on context and the way we, as well as Germans, love our compound words, also depending what pre- and suffixes are used. source: [häpen | SAOB](https://www.saob.se/artikel/?unik=H_1999-0041.0h60&pz=3#U_H1999_62940)