jämnast

Jämnast is a historical or dialectal form in Swedish grammar that is sometimes described as the superlative of the adjective jämn, meaning “even,” “level,” or “equal.” In modern standard Swedish, the widely accepted superlative is jämnaste. Jämnast thus appears primarily in older texts, linguistic discussions, or certain dialect writings, where it functioned as the maximal degree of evenness.

Etymology and form: The base jämn derives from older Germanic roots, connected to the idea of equality or flatness. The sense of a superlative was historically expressed with endings like -ast in Swedish, producing forms such as jämnast. Over time, standard Swedish has shifted toward other superlative formations (for example, jämnaste is common today), while jämnast is retained in some dialects or as a literary/archaic variant in reference works.

Usage and notes: In contemporary usage, speakers and writers typically avoid jämnast in favor of jämnaste when aiming to say “the most even.” Jämnast may still be encountered in linguistic discussions about old texts, dialectal variation, or poetic or retrospective contexts. When documenting language history, grammars will often note jämnast as an example of the historical degree-formation pattern for jämn, illustrating how the language has regularized its comparative and superlative forms.

See also: Swedish comparative and superlative forms; jämn; diachronic Swedish grammar; dialectal variation in adjectives.