baktala

Swedish

Etymology

From bak- (“back-”) +‎ tala (“talk”), ultimately from Old Norse tala, from Proto-Germanic *talō (“calculation, number”), from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“to reckon, count”).

Verb

baktala (present baktalar, preterite baktalade, supine baktalat, imperative baktala)

1. to malign, to slander

   Synonyms: förtala, smutskasta, ärekränka

Usage notes

Speak ill of more generally compared to förtala, which implies potentially libelous slander.

Conjugation

Conjugation of baktala (weak)

	Active		Passive
Infinitive	baktala		baktalas
Supine	baktalat		baktalats
Imperative	baktala		—
Imper. plural1	baktalen		—
	Present	Past	Present	Past
Indicative	baktalar	baktalade	baktalas	baktalades
Ind. plural1	baktala	baktalade	baktalas	baktalades
Subjunctive2	baktale	baktalade	baktales	baktalades
	Participles
Present participle	baktalande
Past participle	baktalad
1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Further reading

• baktala in Svensk ordbok.