Delenes

Delenes is a grammatical form used in several Scandinavian languages to express possession or association with the noun del, meaning part or portion. It functions as the genitive plural, roughly translating to “the parts’” in English. The form appears in written texts and is less common in everyday speech outside certain registers.

Morphology and usage. In Norwegian Bokmål, Danish, and Swedish, the base word del has a definite plural form delene or delarna (the parts). The genitive plural is formed by adding a possessive ending to the definite plural, yielding delenes in these languages. A closely related form in Swedish is delarnas (the parts’). The distinction among delenes, delene, and delens (the part’s) marks different senses of possession or belonging, with delens used for singular possessive and delenes for plural possessive.

Examples and notes. Common phrases include delenes innhold (the contents of the parts) or delenes betydning (the parts’ significance). The possessive plural delenes contrasts with delene (the parts) and with delens (the part’s). In some contexts, regional spelling or historical texts may show variations, but the general pattern remains recognizable across Scandinavian languages.

Etymology. The noun del comes from Old Norse deild, meaning a division or part. The genitive plural form delenes derives from the combination of the definite plural ending (en/e) and the possessive suffix -s, a pattern shared with other Germanic languages. Overall, delenes functions as a standard grammatical construct rather than a standalone concept or proper noun.