London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.

Some Finnish Words

We’ve been rather too neglectful of Finnish, the language so beloved of Tolkien. The South-African-born philologist and mythmaker described his introduction to the Finnish tongue as being “like discovering a complete wine-cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before. It quite intoxicated me.” Aside from Tolkein’s love of the Finnish language, Elias Lönrott’s Kalevala epic was a central influence on the creation of The Lord of the Rings, as numerous scholars have written about.

I mentioned kaupunkilaissuomenruotsalaiset on Facebook the other day, and Sara piped up with the remainder of the following list of Finnish words. Don’t just read them with your eyes, pronounce them. As Tolkein understood, it is the spoken word which has true power.


kaupunkilaissuomenruotsalaiset — Finland-Swedish townspeople


pyyhkäisyelektronimikroskooppi — scanning electron microscope


paikallispuolustusjärjestelmä — local defense system


ylioppilastutkintolautakunta — matriculation examination board


tietojenkäsittelyjärjestelmä — data processing system


sotasyyllisyysoikeudenkäynti — war-guilt trial


muotokuvanpaljastustilaisuus — portrait unveiling


vahingonkorvausvelvollisuus — liability for damages


tekstinkäsittelyjärjestelmä — word processing system


kokonaisyksikkökustannukset — the total unit cost of


kaksitoistasäveljärjestelmä — twelve-note composition (wikipedia)

Published at 8:18 pm on Thursday 8 September 2011. Categories: Errant Thoughts World Tags: , , .
Comments

As speakers of Finnish manage come to the end of a word, how do they manage to remember how it began?

— jedesto 9 Sep 2011 1:21 am

As speakers of Finnish come to the end of a word, how do they manage to remember how it began?

— jedesto 9 Sep 2011 1:23 am

Any of these might make great computer pass-words, if 1) only one could remember them 2) correctly !

— Aunt Raven 16 Sep 2011 11:14 pm
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