Finnish language
The Finnish language is a Finno-Ugric language, a group of languages belonging to the Uralic language family. It is one of the two official languages of Finland. It is also an official minority language in Sweden. Finnish is one of the four national languages of Europe that is not an Indo-European language. The other three are Estonian and Hungarian, which are also Uralic languages, and Basque.
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[change] Related languages
The Finnish grammar and most Finnish words are very different from those in other European languages, because Finnish is not an Indo-European language. The two other national languages that are Uralic languages as Finnish are Estonian and Hungarian. Estonian and Finnish are very close to each other, and Estonians and Finns usually may understand each other. Even though Finnish and Hungarian are related languages, they do not look or sound similar. The Finnish and Hungarian languages separated a long time ago, and each language developed its own vocabulary. People who can speak Finnish cannot understand Hungarian without extra study, and Hungarians cannot understand Finnish. However, there are some basic words that are very similar, for example: 'hand' (Finnish 'käsi' vs. Hungarian 'kéz') 'to go' (Finnish 'mennä' vs. Hungarian 'menni'), 'fish' (Finnish 'kala' vs. Hungarian 'hal'.
[change] Finnish grammar
Finnish is a synthetic and an agglutinative language. This means that words in Finnish have a stem called "body", and many parts inside them that make up meaning. Finnish is similar in this respect as Japanese language and Turkish language and Latin language. In Finnish there are 15 cases. A case is an ending added to a word that helps describe its purpose in the sentence.
[change] Finnish spelling and pronunciation
Finnish is pronounced the way it is spelt. The pronunciation of most letters is similar to English. However:
- 'j' is like English 'y' in 'yes'
- 's' is like English 's' in 'sad' (never like 'z')
- 'h' is always pronounced, even at the end of a syllable e.g. 'ahdas' ('narrow')
- double vowels make the sound long
- 'ä' is similar to 'a' in English 'cat'
- 'ö' is pronounced with rounded lips, like 'eu' in French 'peur' or German 'ö'
- the letter 'c' is not used. It is replaced either by 'k' or 's' to avoid confusion and make writing simple.
- the letter 'y' is pronounced like the 'i' in 'in' but with rounded lips, very close to 'ö'.
[change] Examples of Finnish words
[change] Basic Finnish Expressions
[change] Other websites
| Yksi | One |
| Kaksi | Two |
| Kolme | Three |
| Kyllä | Yes |
| Ei | No |
| Minä | I |
| Sinä/Te | You |
| Hän | He/She |
| Me | We |
| He | They |
| Olen/Minä olen | I am |
| Suomi | Finland |
| Talo | House |
| Koti | Home |
| Tie | Way |
| Äiti | Mother |
| Isä | Father |
| Tyttö | Girl |
| Poika | Boy |
| Vauva | Baby |
| Auto | Car |
| Juna | Train |
| Lentokone | Airplane |
| Ravintola | Restaurant |
| Nukke | Doll |
| Sänky | Bed |
| Tuoli | Chair |
| Kaupunki | City/Town |
| Puisto | Park |
| Polkupyörä | Bicycle |
| Kukka | Flower |
| Kevät | Spring |
| Kesä | Summer |
| Syksy | Autumn/Fall |
| Talvi | Winter |
| Hyvää päivää / hei | Hello |
| Mitä kuuluu? | How are you? |
| Kiitos hyvää | Very well, thank you |
| Kiitos | Thank you |
| Kiitos paljon | Thank you very much |
| Hyvää huomenta | Good morning |
| Hyvää iltaa | Good evening |
| Hyvää yötä | Good night |
| Hyvästi | Goodbye |
| Nimeni on Anna | My name is Anna |
| En osaa puhua suomea | I can't speak Finnish |
| Puhutteko Englantia? | Can you speak English? |
