Svalbard

See also: Svalbarð

English

Wikivoyage

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse Svalbarð n probably through Norwegian. From svalr (“cool”) +‎ barð (“edge, brim”), thus roughly meaning “cold shore”, probably alluding to the treeless landscape mostly covered with grass.

The name was first attested in annales referring to year 1194, but it’s uncertain whether it referred to the modern archipelago.

Cognate with Faroese Svalbarð, Icelandic Svalbarði and Norwegian Svalbard.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsvɑlbɑɹ/, (anglicized) /ˈsvɑlbɑɹd/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsvælbɑː/, (anglicized) /ˈsvælbɑːd/

  • Audio (Southern England); /ˈsvælbɑːd/:

    (file)

Proper noun

Svalbard

2. An archipelago, territory, and unincorporated area of Norway northeast of Greenland, in the Arctic Ocean.

Synonyms

• Spitsbergen, Spitzbergen (both dated)
• Greenland (obsolete)
• Grumant (dated)

Derived terms

• Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
• Svalbard reindeer
• Svalbardian

Translations

islands north east of Greenland

• Arabic: سْفَالْبَارْد m (sfalbard)
• Armenian: Սվալբարդ (Svalbard)
• Belarusian: Шпіцбе́рген m (Špicbjérhjen), Шпіцбэ́рген m (Špicbérhjen) (taraškievica)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 斯瓦爾巴 / 斯瓦尔巴 (zh) (Sīwǎ'ěrbā)

• Czech: Špicberky (cs) pl
• Danish: Svalbard
• Dutch: Spitsbergen (nl) n
• Esperanto: Svalbardo
• Faroese: Svalbarð n
• Finnish: Huippuvuoret (fi) pl
• French: Svalbard (fr) m
• Georgian: შპიცბერგენი (šṗicbergeni), სვალბარდი (svalbardi)
• German: Spitzbergen (de) n (remains predominant); Svalbard (de) n (chiefly official)
• Greek: Σφάλμπαρ m (Sfálmpar), Σβάλμπαρντ m (Sválmparnt)
• Icelandic: Svalbarði m
• Italian: Svalbard
• Japanese: スバールバル (Subārubaru), スヴァールバル諸島 (Suvārubaru shotō)
• Korean: 스발바르 (Seubalbareu)
• Latin: Svalbardum
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Svalbard

  Nynorsk: Svalbard

• Polish: Svalbard (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: Esvalbarda f
• Romanian: Svalbard n
• Russian: Сва́льбард m (Sválʹbard), Шпицбе́рген (ru) m (Špicbérgen)
• Slovak: Špicbergy m pl
• Spanish: Svalbard m
• Swedish: Svalbard (sv)
• Turkish: Svalbard (tr)

References

• “Svalbard”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• Svalbard, CIA World Fact Book 2004 on Wikisource.Wikisource
• Spitsbergen in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
• Spitzbergen in the 1905 edition of the New International Encyclopedia.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsvaːlˌbart/, [ˈsʋaːlˌbaʁt], [-ˌbaɐ̯t], [-ˌbaːt]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Proper noun

Svalbard n (proper noun, genitive Svalbards or (optionally with an article) Svalbard)

1. (especially official use) Svalbard (an archipelago, territory, and unincorporated area of Norway northeast of Greenland, in the Arctic Ocean)

   Synonym: (remains predominant) Spitzbergen

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse Svalbarð n or Svalbarðr m. See the English entry for more information.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsvɑ̂ːɫbɑr/

Proper noun

Svalbard

1. Svalbard (an archipelago, territory, and unincorporated area of Norway northeast of Greenland, in the Arctic Ocean)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Longyearbyen på Svalbard.

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse Svalbarð n or Svalbarðr m, from svalr (“cool”) +‎ barð (“edge, brim”), thus roughly meaning “cold shore”. See the English entry for more information.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²svaːlbaːr/, /²svaːɽbaːɽ/

Proper noun

Svalbard n

1. Svalbard (an archipelago, territory, and unincorporated area of Norway northeast of Greenland, in the Arctic Ocean)

Derived terms

• svalbardgås (“pink-footed goose”)
• svalbarding (“someone from Svalbard”)
• svalbardkol
• svalbardlaks (“arctic char”, literally “Svalbard salmon”)
• svalbardlomvi (“thick-billed murre”)
• Svalbardlova (“the Svalbard Act”)
• svalbardløn
• svalbardrein (“Svalbard reindeer”)
• Svalbardrådet
• svalbardteiste, svalbardteist (“Cepphus grylle mandtii”)
• Svalbardtraktaten (“the Svalbard Treaty”)
• svalbardull, svalbardmyrull (“Eriophorum sorensenii”)
• svalbardvalmue (“Papaver dahlianum”)

Related terms

• bard (“edge”)
• Grumant (dated)
• Spitsbergen
• sval (“cool”)
• Vestspitsbergen

Polish

Svalbard

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Norwegian Svalbard.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsfal.bart/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -albart
• Syllabification: Sval‧bard

Proper noun

Svalbard m inan (related adjective svalbardzki)

1. Svalbard (an archipelago, territory, and unincorporated area of Norway northeast of Greenland, in the Arctic Ocean)

Declension

Declension of Svalbard

	singular
nominative	Svalbard
genitive	Svalbardu
dative	Svalbardowi
accusative	Svalbard
instrumental	Svalbardem
locative	Svalbardzie
vocative	Svalbardzie

Further reading

• Svalbard in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Svalbard in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Norwegian Svalbard.

Pronunciation

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /svalˈbaɾd/ [svaɫˈβaɾð]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /svalˈbaɾd/ [svaɫˈβaɾð]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sbalˈbaɾd/ [sβaɫˈβaɾð]

Proper noun

Svalbard f

1. (sometimes proscribed) alternative form of Esvalbarda

Usage notes

The Portuguese-Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990 recommends the use of nativized placenames (instead of unadapted borrowings or partial calques) if these are established in the language. As such, the forms Esvalbarda or Esvalbarde are preferred.