Verbs
This analysis is the result of examining approximately 3500 distinct verb lexemes in Wiktionary using pronunciation data from the Braxen dataset and some anomalies cross-checked against Lexin.
Unprefixed -er verbs
Section titled “Unprefixed -er verbs”The -er in the present tense of all unprefixed (two-syllable) -er verbs is unstressed. This means that the present tense has an acute accent, while all other two-syllable forms, including the infinitive, have a grave accent.
| inf. | pres. | past | sup. | pres. part. | past part. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| h ↗ å l l ↘ a | h ↗ å l l e r | h ö l l | h ↗ å l l ↘ i t | h ↗ å l l ↘ a n d e | h ↗ å l l ↘ e n |
| s k r ↗ i v ↘ a | s k r ↗ i v e r | s k r e v | s k r ↗ i v ↘ i t | s k r ↗ i v ↘ a n d e | s k r ↗ i v ↘ e n |
| s p r ↗ i n g ↘ a | s p r ↗ i n g e r | s p r a n g | s p r ↗ u n g ↘ i t | s p r ↗ i n g ↘ a n d e | s p r ↗ u n g ↘ e n |
| t ↗ ä n k ↘ a | t ↗ ä n k e r | t ↗ ä n k t ↘ e | t ä n k t | t ↗ ä n k ↘ a n d e | t ä n k t |
Unprefixed -ar verbs
Section titled “Unprefixed -ar verbs”All unprefixed two-syllable -ar verbs have a grave accent in all forms.
| inf. | pres. | past | sup. | pres. part. | past part. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p r ↗ a t ↘ a | p r ↗ a t ↘ a r | p r ↗ a t ↘ a d e | p r ↗ a t ↘ a t | p r ↗ a t ↘ a n d e | p r ↗ a t ↘ a d |
| s n ↗ u b b l ↘ a | s n ↗ u b b l ↘ a r | s n ↗ u b b l ↘ a d e | s n ↗ u b b l ↘ a t | s n ↗ u b b l ↘ a n d e | _ |
| s t ↗ a n n ↘ a | s t ↗ a n n ↘ a r | s t ↗ a n n ↘ a d e | s t ↗ a n n ↘ a t | s t ↗ a n n ↘ a n d e | s t ↗ a n n ↘ a d |
| t ↗ i t t ↘ a | t ↗ i t t ↘ a r | t ↗ i t t ↘ a d e | t ↗ i t t ↘ a t | t ↗ i t t ↘ a n d e | t ↗ i t t ↘ a d |
10 unprefixed -ar verbs have an infinitive with three syllables. They are:
| inf. | pres. | past | sup. | pres. part. | past part. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ↗ a n s v ↘ a r a | ↗ a n s v ↘ a r a r | ↗ a n s v ↘ a r a d e | ↗ a n s v ↘ a r a t | - | - |
| ↗ a r b ↘ e t a | ↗ a r b ↘ e t a r | ↗ a r b ↘ e t a d e | ↗ a r b ↘ e t a t | ↗ a r b ↘ e t a n d e | ↗ a r b ↘ e t a d |
| b ↗ o j k ↘ o t t a | b ↗ o j k ↘ o t t a r | b ↗ o j k ↘ o t t a d e | b ↗ o j k ↘ o t t a t | - | - |
| f r ↗ i l ↘ a n s a | f r ↗ i l ↘ a n s a r | f r ↗ i l ↘ a n s a d e | f r ↗ i l ↘ a n s a t | f r ↗ i l ↘ a n s a n d e | - |
| h ↗ ö r s ↘ a m m a | h ↗ ö r s ↘ a m m a r | h ↗ ö r s ↘ a m m a d e | h ↗ ö r s ↘ a m m a t | h ↗ ö r s ↘ a m m a n d e | h ↗ ö r s ↘ a m m a d |
| ↗ i d ↘ i s s l a | ↗ i d ↘ i s s l a r | ↗ i d ↘ i s s l a d e | ↗ i d ↘ i s s l a t | ↗ i d ↘ i s s l a n d e | - |
| ↗ o r s ↘ a k a | ↗ o r s ↘ a k a r | ↗ o r s ↘ a k a d e | ↗ o r s ↘ a k a t | ↗ o r s ↘ a k a n d e | ↗ o r s ↘ a k a d |
| v ↗ i l l k ↘ o r a | v ↗ i l l k ↘ o r a r | v ↗ i l l k ↘ o r a d e | v ↗ i l l k ↘ o r a t | - | v ↗ i l l k ↘ o r a d |
| w ↗ a l l r ↘ a f f a | w ↗ a l l r ↘ a f f a r | w ↗ a l l r ↘ a f f a d e | w ↗ a l l r ↘ a f f a t | w ↗ a l l r ↘ a f f a n d e | - |
| ↗ ä v e n t ↘ y r a | ↗ ä v e n t ↘ y r a r | ↗ ä v e n t ↘ y r a d e | ↗ ä v e n t ↘ y r a t | - | - |
Non -er/-ar verbs
Section titled “Non -er/-ar verbs””Hidden” grave accent
Section titled “”Hidden” grave accent”All verbs whose present tense does not end in -er/-ar and is monosyllabic have a “hidden” grave accent. Any inflection that consists of more than one syllable has a grave accent.
| inf. | pres. | past | sup. | pres. part. | past part. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| se | ser | såg | sett | s ↗ e ↘ e n d e | sedd |
| gå | går | gick | gått | g ↗ å ↘ e n d e | g ↗ å n g ↘ e n |
| slå | slår | slog | s l ↗ a g ↘ i t | s l ↗ å ↘ e n d e | s l ↗ a g ↘ e n |
| tro | tror | t r ↗ o d d ↘ e | trott | t r ↗ o ↘ e n d e | trodd |
| g ↗ ö r ↘ a | gör | g j ↗ o r d ↘ e | gjort | g ↗ ö r ↘ a n d e | gjord |
Complete list
ber, blir, bor, brer, bryr, bär, bör, drar, dör, flår, får, för, ger, glor, gnor, gnyr, gror, gryr, går, gör, har, hyr, hör, kan, klår, kräks, kör, lär, mår, när, når, pyr, ror, ser, sker, skor, skyr, slår, slåss, snor, snör, spyr, spår, strör, styr, stör, stör, svär, syr, sår, tar, ter, tror, tär, tål, vet, vill, yr, är
Stable acute accent
Section titled “Stable acute accent”All verbs whose present tense does not end in -er/-ar and has two syllables have a stable acute accent. There are just 20 of these. These verbs all have the prefix be- or för-, which is consistent with the behavior described in the next section.
| inf. | pres. | past | sup. | pres. part. | past part. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b e r ↗ o | b e r ↗ o r | b e r ↗ o d d e | b e r ↗ o t t | b e r ↗ o e n d e | - |
| f ö r s t ↗ å | f ö r s t ↗ å r | f ö r s t ↗ o d | f ö r s t ↗ å t t | f ö r s t ↗ å e n d e | f ö r s t ↗ å d d |
Complete list
bebo, begära, begå, bero, beröra, beskära, beslå, bestå, förbli, förföra, förgå, förgöra, förhöra, förmå, förslå, försmå, förstå, förstöra, förtro, förtära
Prefixes and pitch accent
Section titled “Prefixes and pitch accent”Many stable accent verbs have a prefix.
Some very common prefixes include av-, ut-, för-, an-, in-, upp-, över-, åter-, till-, om-, under-, före-, å-, på-, miss-, er-, fram-, o-, be-.
These have an important impact on the pitch accent of a verb. First, they cause the infinitve ending -a to lose its stress.
| inf. | pres. | past | sup. | pres. part. | past part. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| h ↗ å l l ↘ a | h ↗ å l l e r | h ö l l | h ↗ å l l ↘ i t | h ↗ å l l ↘ a n d e | h ↗ å l l ↘ e n |
| ↗ a v • h ↘ å l l a | ↗ a v • h ↘ å l l e r | ↗ a v • h ↘ ö l l | ↗ a v • h ↘ å l l i t | ↗ a v • h ↘ å l l a n d e | ↗ a v • h ↘ å l l e n |
| f r ↗ a m • h ↘ å l l a | f r ↗ a m • h ↘ å l l e r | f r ↗ a m • h ↘ ö l l | f r ↗ a m • h ↘ å l l i t | f r ↗ a m • h ↘ å l l a n d e | - |
| v ↗ i n n ↘ a | v ↗ i n n e r | v a n n | v ↗ u n n ↘ i t | v ↗ i n n ↘ a n d e | v ↗ u n n ↘ e n |
| ↗ u t • v ↘ i n n a | ↗ u t • v ↘ i n n e r | ↗ u t • v ↘ a n n | ↗ u t • v ↘ u n n i t | - | ↗ u t • v ↘ u n n e n |
| ↗ ö v e r • v ↘ i n n a | ↗ ö v e r • v ↘ i n n e r | ↗ ö v e r • v ↘ a n n | ↗ ö v e r • v ↘ u n n i t | ↗ ö v e r • v ↘ i n n a n d e | ↗ ö v e r • v ↘ u n n e n |
This also means that no prefixed verb has a shifting stress pattern.
| inf. | pres. | past | sup. | pres. part. | past part. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s k r ↗ i v ↘ a | s k r ↗ i v e r | s k r e v | s k r ↗ i v ↘ i t | s k r ↗ i v ↘ a n d e | s k r ↗ i v ↘ e n |
| ↗ i n • s k r ↘ i v a | ↗ i n • s k r ↘ i v e r | ↗ i n • s k r ↘ e v | ↗ i n • s k r ↘ i v i t | ↗ i n • s k r ↘ i v a n d e | ↗ i n • s k r ↘ i v e n |
| t ↗ i l l • s k r ↘ i v a | t ↗ i l l • s k r ↘ i v e r | t ↗ i l l • s k r ↘ e v | t ↗ i l l • s k r ↘ i v i t | t ↗ i l l • s k r ↘ i v a n d e | t ↗ i l l • s k r ↘ i v e n |
Second, as can be seen from the above examples, they also “steal” the stress from the ending. However, the prefixes för- and be- remain unstressed. This does not apply to the prefix före- and the rare double prefix för•be-, which do steal the stress.
| inf. | pres. | past | sup. | pres. part. | past part. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b e h ↗ å l l a | b e h ↗ å l l e r | b e h ↗ ö l l | b e h ↗ å l l i t | - | b e h ↗ å l l e n |
| f ö r h ↗ å l l a | f ö r h ↗ å l l e r | f ö r h ↗ ö l l | f ö r h ↗ å l l i t | f ö r h ↗ å l l a n d e | - |
| f ↗ ö r e • h ↘ å l l a | f ↗ ö r e • h ↘ å l l e r | f ↗ ö r e • h ↘ ö l l | f ↗ ö r e • h ↘ å l l i t | f ↗ ö r e • h ↘ å l l a n d e | f ↗ ö r e • h ↘ å l l e n |
| f ↗ ö r • b e h ↘ å l l a | f ↗ ö r • b e h ↘ å l l e r | f ↗ ö r • b e h ↘ ö l l | f ↗ ö r • b e h ↘ å l l i t | - | f ↗ ö r • b e h ↘ å l l e n |
Stable acute accent
Section titled “Stable acute accent”Given the above tendencies, this category includes all verbs beginning with för- (but not före- or för•be-) or be-.
It also includes all verbs ending in -erar or -eras, which is quite a large group.
There are just a few verbs with a stable acute accent that do not fit into either of the above groups. Most, like designar, are derived from foreign loanwords, except for anammar, valackar, välsignar.
Stable acute accent verbs (not för-/be- or -erar/-eras) (23)
anammar, designar, fernissar, filear, gestaltar, intervjuar, kalasar, kapsejsar, kinesar, kollapsar, kompromissar, konkursar, kontaktar, partajar, permanentar, predikar, relaxar, semestrar, sjanghajar, trumpetar, turistar, valackar, välsignar
Stable grave accent
Section titled “Stable grave accent”All other prefixed verbs fall into this category. As shown in the examples earlier, the prefix steals the stress from the infinitive ending. This leads to two stresses in stable positions throughout all inflections.