stemme

Stemme is a word used in Norwegian and Danish with several related meanings centered on sound, speech, and decision making. In everyday use, it most commonly means voice or vocal sound: a person’s vocal quality, tone, or utterance. It can describe how someone speaks in a given moment, as in "hans stemme var myk" (his voice was soft). It can also denote the act of or capacity for speaking.

In politics and civic life, stemme refers to a vote or ballot. A single vote is "en stemme," and the verb "å stemme" means to vote in an election. The process of casting ballots is a routine part of elections. The term also forms part of compound words such as "stemmerett," the right to vote.

In linguistics, stemme denotes voicing, the feature that distinguishes certain consonants by vocal cord vibration. Voiced sounds, such as b, d, and g, contrast with voiceless sounds like p, t, and k. The property is used in phonology to classify sounds and describe languages’ articulatory systems.

Etymology traces the word to Germanic roots linked to speech and sound, with cognates in related Scandinavian languages. The exact evolution varies by language, but the sense of voice or vote remains central.