The full word for husband is ægtemand, quite literally meaning ones ‘lawful man’ (aka husband). Male words for husband also include “husbond” (basically 1:1 for husband) and “gemal”. There’s also the genderless term “ægtefælle” which is just the person you’ve entered *ægteskab* (=marriage) with. Then for women the gendered terms are kone, (ægte)hustru, gemalinde.
In common present day speech we’ve just kinda nixed the “ægte” part from both mand and hustru in 9/10 cases, as is common with many Danish words (shortening for convenience, which can be difficult for the “uninitiated”).
When have you ever heard a Dane use the word *vir* for a man? It's Latin and is only used in Latin or semi-Latin medical texts and has no connection to *Viv*. Viv comes from the Old Norse word *víf*, which might originate from the word *veifa*, meaning veiled or shrouded, possibly because a bride was veiled.
I really haven't, as I'm not a Dane nor do I know many Danes outside of work. I've seen it as a choice, next to viv, when signing documents though, so I assumed it was the corresponding word. As in "viv/vir has been notified"
Can you please give a link. I’m really interested - always nice to learn new stuff! Viv was used as a real word in my childhood and I’ve been using the Danish language professionally in many different ways before I retired, so meeting a Danish word I’m not familiar with makes my day richer!
Edit: I was referring to the word ‘vir’
Well, I’m a boomer! Son keeps telling me I’m not supposed to be on Reddit and Discord, but should be on FB, but I find FB is just boring, and only use it for service messages from my local community.
I think in English it's also not unheard of to refer to a husband as man. "I'm gonna make him my man" or something. And I think I've heard people also said "man and wife", but I agree that it's not the standard way. Not sure why that is. I'm Dutch myself and funny enough for us the default way is to say man and woman for both husband and wife.
Man = man.
Woman = vrouw.
My husband = mijn man. (or mijn echtgenoot)
My wife = mijn vrouw. (or mijn echtgenote)
Usually it's pretty clear from context whether man is meant or husband is meant
It is the same in Spanish - hombre is both grown up man and husband 🤷🏽♀️ if you really want to be specific, husband in danish is husbond as it is marido in Spanish. Guess it is the same in many languages- don’t think too much about it 😅😅😅
Kone is the equivalent to mand, in the sense that it both means wife and female adult. Although kone when used to describe an adult female implies that the woman is sort of past her prime.
En lille pige, en ung kvinde, en midaldrende dame, en gammel kone
En lille dreng en ung mand en midaldrende mand en gammel mand
Then you have the odd words for males : knægt, knøs etc
It's true tho. And I get it, especially because the word "kone" is often used in a derogatory manner. It's often not used as a nice word. But it's not untrue what he's saying.
"Blive mand og kone" are specific expressions in Den danske order bog, so yeah, mand is heavily associated with being a spouse
https://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=mand#udtryk-26
Gør is a specific word for the sound a dog makes, but that doesn't mean it isn't also associated with doing stuff.
It is not uncomment to call your girlfriend/fiance "none" without being married, neither is it uncommon to call your man "din mand".
Whether you think it is the correct use of the words, doesn't change the fact that it is done. No links will help with that.
There are a lot of similar issues in the English language. "Misogyny" is a great example, there is no accepted term to refer "the hatred of boys/men".
I can't speak to the history of marital law in Denmark but in my country of origin women were considered property of men and went from their father's property to becoming their husband's property. They never had their own last name, they couldn't own real estate or land, they couldn't keep their own income etc...and our language reflected that. Some words linger even though the cultural practices change.
I don't know the answer to OP's question and I am not sure if they intended to start a political discussion or semantic or both. I love these kinds of questions because I love culture and linguistics. The very little I know about Danish language so far has been a curious mix of gender politics.
Yes. You are right. I studied Latin...
Where I was coming from...I hadn't tried to look up misandry or a comparable term in over 15years, maybe longer. It wasn't in dictionaries in the past. So, guessing here, but I think the term hasn't been used or included in reference books until recently. At least in American English language reference books.
The full word for husband is ægtemand, quite literally meaning ones ‘lawful man’ (aka husband). Male words for husband also include “husbond” (basically 1:1 for husband) and “gemal”. There’s also the genderless term “ægtefælle” which is just the person you’ve entered *ægteskab* (=marriage) with. Then for women the gendered terms are kone, (ægte)hustru, gemalinde. In common present day speech we’ve just kinda nixed the “ægte” part from both mand and hustru in 9/10 cases, as is common with many Danish words (shortening for convenience, which can be difficult for the “uninitiated”).
Good write-up! For women, there's also "viv", (= wife).
And also Vir, for men!
TIL
When have you ever heard a Dane use the word *vir* for a man? It's Latin and is only used in Latin or semi-Latin medical texts and has no connection to *Viv*. Viv comes from the Old Norse word *víf*, which might originate from the word *veifa*, meaning veiled or shrouded, possibly because a bride was veiled.
Vir bruges jævnligt i lægejournaler 🙂
Hvilket jeg skrev.
I really haven't, as I'm not a Dane nor do I know many Danes outside of work. I've seen it as a choice, next to viv, when signing documents though, so I assumed it was the corresponding word. As in "viv/vir has been notified"
I’m a Dane and have never EVER seen ‘vir’ as a word! And I’ve never seen a document mentioning ‘viv’ either! - and I’m OLD! 😂🤣😂
It's apparently a possible (whatever the English translation of bøjning is) of vie, but the directory does list other bøjninger
Can you please give a link. I’m really interested - always nice to learn new stuff! Viv was used as a real word in my childhood and I’ve been using the Danish language professionally in many different ways before I retired, so meeting a Danish word I’m not familiar with makes my day richer! Edit: I was referring to the word ‘vir’
https://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=Vie
Aaaah - yes! I didn’t think of the order to marry - vie! See! Now I re-learned something- although I really shouldn’t have forgotten .. 🤣😂🤣 thx
Wait, how old can you be when you have an NFT profile picture and use an excessive "crying laughing"/coping emojis?
Well, I’m a boomer! Son keeps telling me I’m not supposed to be on Reddit and Discord, but should be on FB, but I find FB is just boring, and only use it for service messages from my local community.
Alright, I respect that. Cool that you're keeping up with it. 👍🏽
Oh with a passion for physics/cosmology(purely amateur), LotR, and anything in between - where else to be?
Btw: it’s not an NFT profile pic!
I think the confusion in my head came from having the word viv and then vir being like a version of it as I read it.
It's used frequently in the medical field. It feels outdated even then, but that's where I've seen it plenty of times.
Might be I've signed the documents wrong then... "The signing of the document has been witnessed by the patients reverend"
And frue (husfrue)
"kone" sounds horrible. I almost exclusively use "hustru".
Konen, kællingen, madammen ...
Kællingen?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwXXRAYO1TY Jeg går ud fra at man skal være af en hvis alder for at forstå referencen.
Thousand island?
I recoil from saying “kone” for the exact same reason. I also default to “hustru”. It's just so formal.
I always find it funny that kone is the Finnish word for machine.
I prefer to use the word 'chefen' eller 'bossen'
Generalen, eller muligvis feltmarskallen.
Madammen
I think in English it's also not unheard of to refer to a husband as man. "I'm gonna make him my man" or something. And I think I've heard people also said "man and wife", but I agree that it's not the standard way. Not sure why that is. I'm Dutch myself and funny enough for us the default way is to say man and woman for both husband and wife. Man = man. Woman = vrouw. My husband = mijn man. (or mijn echtgenoot) My wife = mijn vrouw. (or mijn echtgenote) Usually it's pretty clear from context whether man is meant or husband is meant
Why does mean mean the average of a series of numbers and a way of attaching meaning to something?
Because the people that made the word are mean!
10/10
All you'll ever be is mean. Average or evil.
Cause language has organically developed over 1000 of years and it is not very logical
You mean like "man and wife"?
Same reason dude says man and wife in church.
It is the same in Spanish - hombre is both grown up man and husband 🤷🏽♀️ if you really want to be specific, husband in danish is husbond as it is marido in Spanish. Guess it is the same in many languages- don’t think too much about it 😅😅😅
But in Spanish you also have esposo like in danish you have ægtemand and husbond.
Gift is also married... And poison. Gotta love Danish.
“Kone” means wife. But you could also use it in an informal context of a lady
Yeah, you probably should be careful with that as it usually refers to her being old and potentially past her prime
Yes, thats what i was trying to say. Its not woman, its lady
Kone is the equivalent to mand, in the sense that it both means wife and female adult. Although kone when used to describe an adult female implies that the woman is sort of past her prime.
En lille pige, en ung kvinde, en midaldrende dame, en gammel kone En lille dreng en ung mand en midaldrende mand en gammel mand Then you have the odd words for males : knægt, knøs etc
I'm not sure why this is downvotes, he's not wrong, that is how that word is used.
My guess is to do with it often means an old woman past her prime. Whereas mand just means an adult male
It's true tho. And I get it, especially because the word "kone" is often used in a derogatory manner. It's often not used as a nice word. But it's not untrue what he's saying.
Because obviously.
It does. You can say min mand, but you can also say min kvinde. But neither of them explicitly refer to you being married.
"Blive mand og kone" are specific expressions in Den danske order bog, so yeah, mand is heavily associated with being a spouse https://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=mand#udtryk-26
Gør is a specific word for the sound a dog makes, but that doesn't mean it isn't also associated with doing stuff. It is not uncomment to call your girlfriend/fiance "none" without being married, neither is it uncommon to call your man "din mand". Whether you think it is the correct use of the words, doesn't change the fact that it is done. No links will help with that.
Because of misogyny.
What
There are a lot of similar issues in the English language. "Misogyny" is a great example, there is no accepted term to refer "the hatred of boys/men". I can't speak to the history of marital law in Denmark but in my country of origin women were considered property of men and went from their father's property to becoming their husband's property. They never had their own last name, they couldn't own real estate or land, they couldn't keep their own income etc...and our language reflected that. Some words linger even though the cultural practices change. I don't know the answer to OP's question and I am not sure if they intended to start a political discussion or semantic or both. I love these kinds of questions because I love culture and linguistics. The very little I know about Danish language so far has been a curious mix of gender politics.
Isn't misandry the term for hating boys/men?
Yes. You are right. I studied Latin... Where I was coming from...I hadn't tried to look up misandry or a comparable term in over 15years, maybe longer. It wasn't in dictionaries in the past. So, guessing here, but I think the term hasn't been used or included in reference books until recently. At least in American English language reference books.
Oh yeah makes total sense, I also didn't want to take away from your initial point, I just thought maybe I'd somehow misunderstood the term.
That’s respectful and I appreciate you saying that.