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By Kaiku
Tervetuloa!
Welcome to this month’s language feature!
Our October language of the month is Finnish, also known as "Suomi/Suomen kieli" in its native tongue.
Finnish belongs to the traditional Balto-Finnic language family and holds the esteemed status of being the official language of Finland. Beyond its homeland, Finnish speakers can also be found in regions such as Estonia, Sweden, and Karelia. In the United States, the population of Finnish speakers has been steadily increasing due to immigration, with an official count of 26,000 native Finnish speakers in the country as of 2020. In total, approximately 5 million individuals consider Finnish their native language in the whole world.
Language evolution is marked by modernization and lexical borrowing, and Finnish is no exception to this trend. It has incorporated roughly 500 words from Germanic languages (e.g. leipä, rauta, kuningas) and approximately 300 from Slavic languages (e.g. pakana, putka, kiisseli). However, the most substantial influence on Finnish vocabulary comes from the Swedish language, with approximately 2000 borrowed words.
One of the most distinctive aspects of the Finnish language is its vowel system, which comprises a total of eight vowels: a, e, i, o, u, y, ä, and ö. This count surpasses that of the English language by three. Among these, non-native speakers often encounter challenges when attempting to pronounce the additional vowels: y [y], ä [æ], and ö [ø].
Finnish Vowels. Graphic made by Kaiku from Language Cafe.
The development of a standardized Finnish writing system did not occur until the 15th century, when Mikael Agricola, a Finnish bishop, recognized the necessity for translating the Bible into Finnish. It was not until three centuries later that a larger effort was made to enhance the status of the Finnish language, facilitating its use in broader contexts of written expression. Subsequently, Finnish literature, journalism, and scientific discourse began to establish a more prominent presence alongside Swedish in Finland. During this transformative period, Elias Lönnrot emerged as a pivotal figure, significantly contributing to the expansion of Finnish vocabulary. His most enduring literary legacy remains in "Kalevala," a monumental collection of epic poetry originating from the folklore and mythologies of Finland and Karelia.
Although Finnish as a language is relatively recent, the roots of Finnic languages trace back to ancient eras, possibly extending as far as BCE times. The earliest documented instance of a Finnic language dates back to the early 13th century, found etched onto a piece of birch bark. There are still multiple arguments of what is the correct translation of the text, but it has been agreed to be an old spell.
Birch bark letter no. 292 from Wikipedia.
Did you know?
Finnish is characterized as a phonemic language, signifying that words are articulated precisely as they are spelled.
The Finnish language contains a diverse range of 19 dialects.
The first book written in Finnish, Mikael Agricola’s “ABCkiria” from 1543, featured the alphabets and catechism.
The most internationally used Finnish word is “sauna”.
The longest word in Finnish contains 61 letters, and is “lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas” which means “airplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer student”.
Finnish is a gender neutral language, and even has only one pronoun: hän.
Basic Phrases in Finnish
Hello — Moi/Terve (non-formal greeting)
Good day — (Hyvää) päivää (formal greeting)
Good morning — (Hyvää) huomenta
Good evening — (Hyvää) iltaa
Bye bye — Hei hei/Moikka
Goodbye — Näkemiin
Congratulations! — Onneksi olkoon!
You’re welcome — Ole hyvä
Thank you/Thanks — Kiitos/Kiitti
About Kaiku
Kaiku, a Finnish IT professional living in Poland with a passion for visual arts and languages. To them finding different perspectives and ideas is important, and expressing them in various forms from text to visual content.
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