FINNISH - SUOMEN KIELI

The Finnish language is spoken nowhere else besides Finland itself; there are no 'dialects' of Finnish as such (though languages like Saami can be considered products of Finnish), but there are a multitude of accents which I won't go into here. What needs to be remembered is that textbook-Finnish (called 'kirjakieli, 'book-language') is extremely formal compared to what is used in everyday situations (this normal mode is called 'puhekieli', 'speech-language'). Many of the phrases taught below are in kirjakieli, though the regular ('realistic') forms will also be given in places. Finnish is a very 'mobile' and flexible language, and there is always more than just one way of saying things, so a few examples will be given for each example-phrase.

Finnish is also an entirely phonetic language, which means that every word is pronounced just as it is written. This may be a difficult concept to grasp for English-speakers, who are used to the extremely inconsistent spelling/pronunciation relationship of the English language (need I mention the vowel-compound "-ough" ['cough', 'through', 'though', etc.]?), so here are some basic rules of pronunciation:


Vowels

a= "uncle" [short] - denoted here as 'a', always
aa = "far" [long]
ä = "apple" [short]
ää = "bad" [long]

e = "end" [short] - denoted here as 'ë'
ee = "where" [long] - denoted here as 'é'

i = "ink" [short]
ii = "eek" [long]

o = "oxygen" [short]
oo = "floor" [long] - denoted here by 'ó'
ö = French " hors d'oeuvre", [but short ]
öö = French "hors d'oeuvre", [long]

u = "moon" [short] - denoted here by '[u]'
uu = "moon" [long] - denoted here by 'ú'

y = roughly "eww" ; French "voiture" [short]
yy = French "voit,strong>ure" [long]

compound vowels or diphthongs = all diphthongs such a 'ie', 'uo' and 'yö' are prononuced each letter "at a time", so the word mieli ('mind') is prononuced [mi-el-i], not [mii-li]. But remember not to artificially cut up the pronunciation, Finnish vowels are flowing and mobile by nature.

vowels at the ends of words = every vowel in Finnish is spoken, there is no such thing as a 'silent' letter. So in the word amme ('tub'), the 'e' is prononuced and both 'm's as well (see compound consonants just below): [um-më]


Consonants

j = "yard" [always] - denoted here by 'y'
r = [always trilled, not like in French but like in Spanish]
double consonants = a very short pause in a word is used with double vowels, such as in the word 'akka'. The pronunciation is not [uh-kuh], it is more like [uhk-kuh].



Phrases

*Hello.

1. Moi! [moy]

2. Terve! [tër-vë] - From the adjective 'terve', "healthy", but used also as an exclamation either as a greeting or a goodbye.

3. Hei! [hey]


*How are you?

1. Kuinka / Miten voit? [kwin-ka / mi-ten | voit] - Kuinka is a question-word, meaning 'how?', as is miten; the latter is less formal.
Voit is the 2nd person present form of ' voida', "to be (well)" (hence, "you are [well])"). The word also means "to be able", but not in this context.

2. Miten menee? [mi-ten | më-né = note pronunciation] - Menee is the 3rd person singular form of the verb 'mennä ', "to go". Literally, this phrase is translated "How it goes?", i.e. "How's it going?"


*What is your name?

1. Mikä on nimenne? [mi-kä | on | ni-men-në] - Mikä is a question-word, meaning 'what?'.
On is the 3rd person present form of the verb 'olla', "to be"; i.e. "is".
Nimi means 'name', and the -nne suffix is a formal possessive marker (same as French "votre"), here "your name".

2. Mikä nimesi on? [mi-kä | ni-më-si | on] - Nimesi is the usual, informal form of "your name".

3. Mikä sun nimi on? [mi-kä | s[u]n | ni-mi | on] - Spoken language, completely informal mode (see introduction). Mikä ; sun is the common form of 'sinun', "your(s)". Sinun is not used in formal language because the suffixes of the objects include the possessor. But here, when the possessive marker is a word instead of a suffix, the object (in this case 'name', nimi) is in its regular form.


*My name is ...

1. Nimeni on ... [ni-më-ni | on] - Nimi + 1st person possessive suffix '-ni. On = "is".

2. Mun nimi on ... [m[u]n | ni-mi | on] - Spoken language. Mun is the common form of 'minun' "my/mine".


*Where are you from?

1. Mistä olet kotoisin? [mis-tä | o-lët | ko-toi-sin] - Mistä is a question-word, meaning "from where?". Almost all question-words have the stem "mi-", with a case suffix attached. In this situation, the case suffix is '-stä ', meaning "from ...".
Olet is the 2nd person present form of the verb 'olla', "to be"; i.e. "you are".
Koti means 'home'; kotoisin is something of an oddity in this usage, where is means roughly 'home-wise' or 'from home from ...'. In its other usage, it is a superlative adjective, meaning 'most homely', from the adjective kotoisa, 'homely, homesome'.

2. Mistä sä oot kotosin? [mis-tä | sä | ót | ko-toi-sin] - Spoken language. Sä is the common form of 'sinä', 'you'.
Oot [note pronunciation] is the common form of 'olet', 'you are'.
Kotosin loses the 'i' in spoken language / slang, because it is slightly quicker and easier to say this way.


*Could you help me please?

1. Anteeksi, voisitteko auttaa minua? [an-téxi | voi-sit-të-ko | aut-taa | mi-nua] - Queries such as for help or assistance begin with the word anteeksi , 'sorry' or 'excuse me'.
Voida ('to be able') ; voisitte ('you could [formal]' = the segment '-isi-' is the conditional marker, signifying "could", "would" or "should") ; voisitteko ('could you?' = the suffix ' -ko' is a question marker, which makes a statement into a question when added to it).
Auttaa, 'to help', is in its nominative (basic) form ; so far the phrase is literally "Sorry, would you [be so kind as] to help".
The word 'me', minua, in this case is in the accusative, because "me" is the object of the verb in the sentence. ' Minä' is "I / me", and 'minua' is strictly "me", when "me" is the object.

2. Sori, voitsä auttaa? [so-ri | voi-sit-sä | aut-taa] - Common form, bordering on slang. Sori is of course a loan word from English "sorry".
Voitsä is itself a short version of an informal form, 'voisitko sä...?', 'could you...?', where sä is the short form of 'sinä'.
Auttaa is as before.


*Please

In Finnish, there is no single word for 'please'; similar expressions of politeness are 'anteeksi' ('excuse me / sorry') and
'olisitteko kiltti ja ...' [o-li-sit-të-ko | kilt-ti | ya] ('would you be so kind'; literally "would you be kind and ..." , from the verb 'olla ', "to be").


*Thank you

1. Kiitos. [kii-tos] - From the verb ' kiittää', "to thank". 'Kiitos' basically means "a thank-you".

2. Kiitti. [kiit-ti] - Short form of above.

3. Tattis! [tat-tis] - Slang, copied from Swedish 'tack' ['tuck'], "thank you".


*You're welcome

1. Ole hyvä. [o-lë | hü-vä] - Literally "Be good" ; means "be well", i.e. don't worry. Ole is the imperative (command) form of verb 'olla', "to be".
Hyvä means 'good'.

2. Ei mitään [ei | mi-tään] - Literally "not anything", i.e. 'nothing'.
Ei means simply "No" when used alone, here means "not ...".
Mitään, 'anything' ; this word cannot be used on its own, it has to be part of a sentence.


*Excuse me

Anteeksi [an-téxi] - Given above. This word is linked to the verb 'antaa', "to give" ; i.e. 'to give forgiveness'.


*Goodbye

1. Näkemiin! [nä-kë-miin] - A slightly shorter form of the word 'näkemisiin', meaning "until sight", "until viewing" ; i.e. "until we see again".

2. Moi(kka)! [moi / moik-ka] - With the friendly -kka ending, this is strictly a farewell-wish, and coudn't really be used to greet someone.

3. Nähdään! [näh-dään = note that the 'h' is also pronounced] - Literally "let's see!" ; i.e. "see you (later)".
The '-ään / -aan' suffix denotes what is called the 'general person' ( yleispersoona), as opposed to 1st, 2nd, etc. It does not have a subject, and is a general expression. As such, 'nähdään ' really literally means "seeing will be done", but by whom is not stated. However, this form is used commonly in spoken language to be in the 1st person plural form (we / us). E.g. 'lähdetään ', though it means absolutely literally "going / leaving will be done", when spoken it means "let's go".