38 Comments
"berg" is only one mountain and the mountains as the area is "fjällen". In French it would be "un mont"="en berg" and "la montagne"="fjällen"
831
We rarely use fjäll about mountains other than the Scandinavian Mountains (plus a few places in the province of Bohuslän).
Sometimes the word is used for mountains in other countries that are similar to our fjäll (they were softened by the glacier ice during the last ice age so they have softer shapes than the Alps), but generally if somebody speaks about fjäll, it's most likely they're talking about a mountain in either Sweden or Norway.
Rather like ''highlands'' and ''The Scottish Highlands'' then?
Also, do you know what ''skutan'' means in the context of mountains. I always assumed that mountain=skutan due to Åreskutan, but after doing this module and googling briefly I can't find anything connecting skutan to mountain (excluding Åre of course).
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skuta only means ship to me, but I googled it and it turns out that there was an old Norse word skat or skott (pronounced skut in the local dialect) which meant 'peak' or 'top', so that's where it comes from, now I've learned something today.
PS but highlands are högland in Swedish, e.g. Skotska högländerna. Småländska höglandet in Sweden is not fjäll.
I guess "fjäll" could refer to Scottish mountains too, they are basically the same chain as Scandinavian mountains.
I wonder if Appalachian mountains would qualify, but I guess they are not called that anyway.
Finnish "tunturi" (and based on what I was reading Swedish fjäll too) is defined mainly by vegetation, it's a hill high enough to rise above the tree line (ie. no trees grow on the top of the hill). There might still be grass, lichen and other forms of arctic vegetation.
Geographically Finnish "tunturi" is an old mountain that has been eroded by ice age, vegetation is a secondary feature. I'd say it's exactly the same as "fjäll". I agree that Scottish mountains fit the bill too, possibly also some hills in Ireland.
That in Swedish, Appalachian mountains are not called "fjäll" but "berg".
Though geologically they are from the same Caledonian mountain chain as Scottish highlands and Scandinavian fjälls.
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In Britain we have "FELLS" which is exactly as described by other commenters ie large hills or softer more rounded mountains. The fell areas are in the north of England which are also areas of viking settlement so it could well be how the term entered the english language.
Very interesting, I was not aware of the connection previously. Wikipedia confirms that the English word "fell" comes from the old Norse fjall. I would also like to add that "fell running" is a very popular sport, mostly in the Northern parts of the country (not to be confused with trail running, which is slightly different).
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The places I know as fells in the UK are large hills, but much smaller than the Scandinavian mountains that fjällen refers to. It’s a nice cognate, but it doesn’t seem to quite correspond in meaning.
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fjället is 'the mountain' but fjällen is 'the mountains' – it's an ett word.
Much like in English, you're most likely to be either på fjället 'on the mountain' or i fjällen 'in the mountains'.
Är det rätt att säga: "Det finns kullar i Skåne, berg i Värmland och fjäll i Lappland."? Är Hovfjället ett berg?
It sounds strange to speak about berg in Värmland. On the other hand, fjäll doesn't fit either. Probably kullar there too.
How would you say - her family is on the mountain? ie there is only one mountain and the family has climbed it?
It is actually funny that you say "på ett fjäll", men "i fjällen". But i guess that`s the same in English?
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I think it's logical: in the mountains because that's an area or region. A single mountain is something you're "on top of".
I thought "är" was only for qualities of an object, and there were other verbs for spatial location, like "ligger" and "star". What am I missing?
