Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 September 16

= September 16 =

Fölis
The name of Varsasaari literally means "foal island". Apparently the Swedish word for foal is föl. Why then is the Swedish name of Varsasaari Fölisholmen and not Fölholmen? J I P &#124; Talk 01:39, 16 September 2021 (UTC)
 * It's not in Svenska Akademiens ordlista, but there seem to be a few places beginning Fölis. I would assume an old Swedish declension of "föl" that has been fossilised in placenames. I did try searching for "föli" but Google is being spectacularly unhelpful, seeming to think it means Turku because of the bus company. DuncanHill (talk) 02:59, 16 September 2021 (UTC)
 * I am finding some Swedish-language blogs where fölis is used to mean foal, for example http://ullekalv.se/2017/05/folis-har-fatt-ett-namn/ DuncanHill (talk) 03:01, 16 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Ah, now -is is used as a diminutive in Swedish (godis, kompis, grattis, etc) which could explain the current usage in horsey circles. DuncanHill (talk) 03:08, 16 September 2021 (UTC)