ålägga

Ålägga is a verb attested mainly in historical Swedish and in some regional dialects. It denotes the act of imposing or laying upon someone or something a duty, obligation, penalty, or other burden. In contemporary standard Swedish, the more common form for this sense is the compound verb pålägga, while ålägga appears mainly in older texts and in regional speech.

Etymology and relatives: the form derives from lägga (to lay) with a prefix å- that in older Scandinavian usage could function as an intensifying or aspectual marker. Related forms appear in other Scandinavian languages, for example Norwegian å pålegge and Danish pålægge, both meaning to impose or prescribe. Because of these cognates, ålägga is often treated as a historical or dialectal variant of the same semantic domain.

Usage and status: ålägga is largely literary or archaic in modern Swedish. It occurs in historical documents, legal archives, and regional speech. When used, it typically takes a direct object referring to the agent on whom the obligation is placed, for example ålägga någon en skyldighet or ålägga någon en avgift. In everyday and formal Swedish, the corresponding and more productive verb is vanligtvis pålägga, and passive constructions with åläggs are more common in older language.

See also: lägg, lägga, pålägga, pålagor, avgift. The discussion of ålägga is often part of broader treatments of Nordic imposition verbs and their diachronic development across Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish.