sjunka

From Old Swedish siunka, from Old East Norse *sinkwa, from Proto-Germanic *sinkwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷ- (“to fall, sink”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɧɵŋːˌka/

• Audio:

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sjunka (present sjunker, preterite sjönk, supine sjunkit, imperative sjunk)

1. (intransitive) to sink

   Skeppet sjunker

   The ship is sinking

2. (intransitive) to lower, to decrease

   Inflationen har sjunkit mer än förväntat

   Inflation has gone down more than expected

   (literally, “The inflation has decreased more than expected”)

3. (intransitive, with ihop (“together”)) to collapse (mainly of people)

   Jag sjönk ihop på golvet

   I collapsed onto the floor

• Sense 3 often has nuance of exhaustion or defeat and generally implies preservation of consciousness and a more deliberate action than a fall, hence it does not apply to buildings and the like.

• sänka (transitive)

• sjunka in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• sjunka in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• sjunka in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• sjunka in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

• sjukan, sjukna