The Swedish Academy's dictionary (SAOB) has been describing Swedish written language since 1521. At present, articles on the letters A through Å have been completed and published.
But when the letter Ö is written clearly, the publication of the book risks ceasing.
This is because the Swedish Academy is considering restricting funding.
The plan has previously been to start all over again - and revise the book, the earlier parts of which were written in the middle of the 19th century.
- If the dictionary is to continue to be used and be this rich source of knowledge about the Swedish language, it must be continuously revised.
It is a great pity if you were to pull the rug off on such work that has been going on for so incredibly long, says Anders Svensson.
Seeking continued funding
At present, the cost of SAOB is SEK 17 million per year.
Converted into today's money value, SAOB has cost a total of approximately SEK 1.2 billion.
In an email to Kulturnyheterna, the Academy writes that "If we are to continue the work with SAOB without those funds, it must stifle its support for any other part of the culture" and that "the Academy is therefore probing the interest among other cultural support bodies to finance continued work with SAOB . ”
In the clip: Linguist Anders Svensson about why he wants to save SAOB.