Adjectives

This analysis is the result of examining approximately 5000 distinct adjective lexemes in Wiktionary using pronunciation data from the Braxen dataset.

Note

This analysis only covers regular adjectives. Since irregular adjectives have forms that are derived from completely different words (lite > mindre) or undergo a stem change (lång > längre), and there are very few such adjectives, there is no real need to cover them here.

Monosyllabic adjectives: “Hidden” grave accent

Most regular adjectives whose dictionary form (common-gender singular) is monosyllabic have a “hidden” grave accent. In the plural (as well as comparative and superlative forms), the word takes on a grave accent. There are 277 of these.

base	plural	comp.	sup. (def.)
grön	g r ↗ ö n ↘ a	g r ↗ ö n ↘ a r e	g r ↗ ö n ↘ a s t ( e )
jämn	j ↗ ä m n ↘ a	j ↗ ä m n ↘ a r e	j ↗ ä m n ↘ a s t ( e )

There are two more regular monosyllabic adjectives that have a “hidden” grave accent except in the comparative and superlative. The remaining handful of such adjectives all have some sort of stem change (stor > stõrre).

base	plural	comp.	sup. (def.)
grov	g r ↗ o v ↘ a	g r ↗ ö v r e	g r ↗ ö v s t ( e )
hög	h ↗ ö g ↘ a	h ↗ ö g r e	h ↗ ö g s t ( e )

Complete list (277)

arg, ball, barsk, besk, bitsk, bjärt, black, blank, blek, blind, blond, blyg, blöt, boolesk, bred, brun, brydd, brysk, bräckt, bråd, bäng, cool, dansk, ding, djup, djärv, dov, dryg, drömsk, dum, dyr, däst, död, döv, fadd, falsk, fast, feg, fet, fin, finsk, flat, flygg, forn, fransk, fri, frisk, from, fräck, frän, ful, full, färsk, gift, gill, glad, glapp, glupsk, glömsk, god, grann, grav, grov, grund, grym, gräll, grå, grön, gul, gäll, hal, halt, halv, hel, hemsk, het, hipp, huld, hätsk, hård, hög, ilsk, jämn, kal, kall, karg, karsk, kass, klar, klen, klipsk, klok, klädd, knapp, knäpp, kort, krabb, kram, krass, krum, kry, kränkt, kvav, kvick, kysk, känd, kär, kärv, kåt, lam, lat, led, lejd, len, ljum, ljus, ljuv, loj, lugn, lybsk, lyckt, lärd, låg, låst, lömsk, matt, mild, mjuk, mjäll, moj, morsk, mätt, mör, mörk, njugg, norsk, ny, nätt, nöjd, ond, paff, pank, pigg, plan, plump, prompt, pryd, rak, rapp, rar, rask, ren, rik, rund, rysk, rädd, rät, rätt, röd, rökt, sagd, salt, sank, sann, satt, schyst, seg, sen, sipp, sjuk, sjyst, skarp, skev, skir, skotsk, skraj, skral, skum, skygg, skälmsk, skämd, skär, skärpt, skånsk, skön, skör, slak, slank, slapp, slug, slät, slö, smal, smart, smärt, snabb, snar, sned, snygg, snäll, snäv, snål, snöd, soft, spak, spansk, sprängd, spröd, späd, stark, stel, stinn, stolt, stor, stram, strid, strikt, strong, sträng, sträv, ström, stum, stursk, stygg, styv, sund, sur, svag, sval, svart, svensk, svett, svår, synsk, säll, såld, såt, sökt, söt, tajt, tam, tjock, tom, torr, trind, trist, trolsk, trygg, trängd, trång, trög, tuff, tung, tunn, tysk, tyst, tänkt, tät, ung, vag, van, varm, vass, vek, vid, vig, vild, vind, viss, vit, vrång, välvd, värd, vävd, våt, yr, öm

Polysyllabic adjectives: acute to grave

Only 19 adjectives shift from acute to grave between their base form and the other forms. Interestingly, they all end in unstressed -en, -el, -er, just like the polysyllabic nouns that shift from acute to grave between singular and plural (öken, titel, fjäder…).

All other unprefixed adjectives (916) have a stable pitch accent pattern, whether that be grave or acute.

base	plural
v ↗ a c k e r	v ↗ a c k r ↘ a
n ↗ y k t e r	n ↗ y k t r ↘ a
↗ ä d e l	↗ ä d l ↘ a

Complete list (19)

bister, butter, dunkel, dyster, enkel, läcker, mager, nobel, nykter, påver, simpel, smäcker, sober, tapper, usel, vacker, vitter, yster, ädel

Prefixed adjectives

The same principles as verbs apply here. All prefixes take away any secondary stress in the root word, and additionally, prefixes other than be- and för- “steal” that stress. This results in a stable accent pattern across all forms.

Note

In the tables below, • indicates the boundary between the prefix and the original verb; it is not part of the spelling and has no bearing on pronunciation.

base	plural
gift	g ↗ i f t ↘ a
↗ o • g ↘ i f t	↗ o • g ↘ i f t a
l ↗ y c k l ↘ i g	l ↗ y c k l ↘ i g a
↗ o • l ↘ y c k l i g	↗ o • l ↘ y c k l i g a
n ↗ y k t e r	n ↗ y k t r ↘ a
↗ o • n ↘ y c k t e r	↗ o • n ↘ y c k t r a
↗ ä d e l	↗ ä d l ↘ a
↗ o • ↘ ä d e l	↗ o • ↘ ä d l a

Examples with be- and för-:

base	plural
satt	s ↗ a t t ↘ a
b e s ↗ a t t	b e s ↗ a t t a
s t ↗ ä n d ↘ i g	s t ↗ ä n d ↘ i g a
b e s t ↗ ä n d i g	b e s t ↗ ä n d i g a
nöjd	n ↗ ö j d ↘ a
f ö r n ↗ ö j d	f ö r n ↗ ö j d a
v ↗ u x ↘ e n	v ↗ u x n ↘ a
f ö r v ↗ u x e n	f ö r v ↗ u x n a