kvæn

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

kvæn m (definite singular kvænen, indefinite plural kvæner, definite plural kvænene)

1. form removed with the spelling reform of 1959; superseded by kven

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• kven

Etymology

From Old Norse kvænir pl, possibly from Sámi kuöinu, after Finnish kainulaiset. Cognate with Icelandic kvænir, kvenir pl, Old English Cwēnas pl and Kven kvääni.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kveːn/

Noun

kvæn m (definite singular kvænen, indefinite plural kvæner or kvænar, definite plural kvænene or kvænane)

1. (historical) a Finnish person from the innermost part of the Gulf of Bothnia
2. (rare today) a Finn, a Finnish speaking person

   Synonym: finne (from Swedish)

   1. a Kven, person of a Finnish-descended people in Northern Norway

      Synonym: norskfinne

Usage notes

The term kvæn has traditionally been used for Finns in general, but has in later years been limited to the Finnish-descended group living in Northern Norway. For Finn and Finnish, the common terms today are finne m (from Swedish) and finsk.

The form kvæn was removed from the official standard used in education with the reform of 2012, superseded by kven. It remains the preferred form in the spelling norm Høgnorsk.

Derived terms

• Kvænland (“Finland; the old land of the Kvens”)
• kvænsk (“Kven, Finnish”)

References

• “kvæn” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring
• “kvæn”, in Norsk Ordbok: ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet, Oslo: Samlaget, 1950-2016

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *kwēniz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn (“woman”).

Noun

kvæn f (genitive kvænar, plural kvænir)

1. Alternative form of kván

Declension

  Declension of kvæn (strong i-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	kvæn	kvænin	kvænir	kvænirnar
accusative	kvæn	kvænina	kvænir	kvænirnar
dative	kvæn	kvæninni	kvænum	kvænunum
genitive	kvænar	kvænarinnar	kvæna	kvænanna

References

• kvæn in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.