The purpose of this dissertation is to compile and study the words referring to state of health in the dialects of Sweden. The investigation is primarily semantic. The material has been collected from dialect archives and dictionaries.

In an attempt to find pattems in this vocabulary, all the meanings of a selection of the words are listed, i.e. even meanings which are not related to state of health. The etymologies and general geographic distribution of these words are also studied. The linguistic patterns are then, as far as possible, related to medical facts and the physical status of people in the peasant society of old.

In this way, for example the fact that many of the adjectives denoting 'poorly, sick, sickly' etc. are either derived from verbs with the meaning walk laboriously' and the like, or can be associated to such verbs, is related to the frequent occurrence of diseases of the joints.

Instances of sound symbolism in the vocabulary are pointed out. For example, words formed with pi-, pe-, spi-, spe- denoting 'little, slender, feeble, delicate'; kr-, skr- denoting scraping, or rustling noises and irregular movements and pj- denoting `whimpering, fretful, whining'.

Being in good or poor health can be seen as a point along a continuous line between a "healthy pole" and an "ill pole". The material shows few words at the "healthy pole" and meaning seriously ill, terminally ill while there are many words for 'disabled, weak, faint, poorly, sick' and so on.

One explanation for the large selection of adjectives expressing poor health may be the harsh conditions of life in the past, another that the body and health are emotionally charged areas.

The material shows what are believed to be signs of good and poor health. The adjectives indicate three factors which are essential in judging how a person feels: appearance, mental condition and mobility.