Hävlig, ett dialektalt ord med flera betydelser

In this article, I present a study of the adjective hävlig in the Swedish language, how this word has been described in dialect lexicons and in historical dictionaries, the etymology, the meanings and the uses of the word. The meanings of hävlig can be divided into three main groups: 1. able, clever (about person and animal); 2. proud, self-important (about person and animal); and 3. a) good, fine (about thing). b) not good enough. The uses of hävlig in negative sentences receive special attention, especially those used to indicate that something, in fact, is not as good as it ought to be,”not hävlig”. From a semantic point of view, I discuss how hävlig has been used for describing various qualities and conditions, good as well as bad ones, in Swedish dialects, and how it still appears in the language today