Finnish language

Finnish language

Finnish language also called Suomi, member of the Finnic group of the Finno-Ugric languages . These languages form a subdivision of the Uralic subfamily of the Ural-Altaic family of languages (see Uralic and Altaic languages ). Finnish is spoken by about 5 million people in Finland. Additional speakers totaling close to 1 million live in neighboring areas of Sweden and Russia and also in the United States. There are several dialects. In Finnish the first syllable of a word is stressed. The language has 15 cases for nouns, personal pronouns, and adjectives. It lacks grammatical gender and the article. There is a negative conjugation for the verb. Like the other Uralic and Altaic languages, Finnish has vowel harmony and agglutination. Postpositions are employed instead of prepositions. Suffixation is used to form derived nouns and verbs. The Finnish vocabulary has been enriched by words borrowed from the Germanic, Slavic, and Baltic languages. A modified Roman alphabet is used for writing Finnish, which has been recorded since the 16th cent.

Bibliography: See F. Karlsson, Finnish Grammar (tr. 1983); E. Holman, ed., Finnish Verb Handbook (1984).

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Finnish language." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Finnish language." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-FinnishLan.html

"Finnish language." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-FinnishLan.html

Learn more about citation styles

Finnish

Finnish One of the two official languages of Finland and a member of the Finno-Ugric group of languages. It is spoken by over 4.5 million people in Finland, and by nearly a million people in Sweden, Russia and the USA. Swedish is the other official language of Finland, spoken by c.300,000 inhabitants.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Finnish." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Finnish." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Finnish.html

"Finnish." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Finnish.html

Learn more about citation styles

Finnish

Finn·ish / ˈfinish/ • adj. of or relating to the Finns or their language. • n. the Finno-Ugric language of the Finns, spoken in Finland and in parts of Russia and Sweden.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Finnish." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Finnish." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-finnish.html

"Finnish." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-finnish.html

Learn more about citation styles

Finnish

Finnishbanish, clannish, mannish, Spanish, tannish, vanish •garnish, tarnish, varnish •replenish, Rhenish •Danish •cleanish, greenish •diminish, finish, Finnish, thinnish •swinish •admonish, astonish, donnish •Cornish •brownish, clownish, townish •buffoonish, cartoonish, soonish •Hunnish, nunnish, punish •maidenish • hoydenish • paganish •womanish • vixenish • kittenish •heathenish •burnish, furnish •longish, strongish •youngish •Lappish, snappish •dampish, scampish, trampish, vampish •sharpish • apish •cheapish, sheepish, steepish •blimpish, impish, wimpish •foppish • waspish • uppish •frumpish, grumpish, lumpish, plumpish •parish •cherish, perish •bearish, fairish, garish, squarish •nightmarish • Irish •moreish, whorish •flourish, nourish •nearish, queerish •sourish •boorish, Moorish •gibberish • Micawberish • vulturish •spiderish • vigorish • vinegarish •tigerish • ogreish • Quakerish •lickerish, liquorice (US licorice) •ochreish (US ocherish) •vapourish (US vaporish) • viperish •spinsterish • Pooterish • amateurish •feverish • liverish • impoverish •minxish • niceish • coarsish • closish

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Finnish." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Finnish." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Finnish.html

"Finnish." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Finnish.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

New Finnish-language newspaper launched in Sweden.(Brief Article)
Newspaper article from: Nordic Business Report; 9/1/2003
Lingsoft introduces Finnish language speech recognition device.(Lingsoft...
Newspaper article from: Telecomworldwire; 9/24/2001
US missionaries hunt their prey.(MANAGEMENT BLUNDERS)(finnish language)
Magazine article from: European Business Forum; 9/22/2004

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

See more pictures of Finnish language