In the mood of the 1st of April holiday, today I devote this episode to something funny, and Finnish is a great language for that (especially if you're a Russian, but we'll get back to it later). Listening to a person talking in Finnish is funny on its own, but Suomi has more to offer. When you get to the core of some words, crazy things are starting to occur.
For example, the word "Lohikäärme" (loh-hee-keh-ehr-meh) consists of two: "lohi" (salmon) and "käärme" (snake). Joined together in one word "lohikäärme", they give you the meaning, yeap, "dragon"! There are more words like this one in Finnish where the trick with the word-formation and simple math rules make you smile (the stress is on the first syllable):
piikkisika (pee-ee-kee-see-kah): spike + pig = porcupine
nokkasiili (nohk-kah-see-lee): beak + hedgehog = echidna
vesinokkaeläin (veh-see-nohk-kah-el-ein): water + beak + animal = platypus
taivaanvuohi (ty-vaan-voo-oh-hee): sky + goat = snipe (must be because of the voice)
hepokatti (hehp-poh-kaht-tee): horse + cat = grasshopper (whaaat?)
pussikarhu (poos-see-kahr-hoo): bag + bear = koala
palokärki (pah-loh-kehr-kee): fire + tip = woodpecker
kilpikonna (keel-peek-kon-nah): shield + frog = turtle
Let's take a break after this Finnish language math lesson and entertain our ears with the sound of different language thanks to the effort of this Finnish girl Saara (4 minutes):
But life in Finland is the hardest on bunnies because if you are one, everybody calls you "pupu" (poo-poo). Poor creatures, they didn't deserve that!
For Russians, lots of Finnish words, including our pal "salmon", sound like swear words, and some of them that translate as piecefull as "sock" or "lip" are actually harsh expletives in Russian. Other words have more sophisticated sense of humor. For example, "palkka" (pah-lk-kah), that in Russian means "stick" (normally, wooden), in Finnish is "salary".
— Just wait for me to get my stick and then I'll show you!
— My stick is bigger anyway! :P
There are many other words you can find amusing, but here I will share just one more—"Hyppytyynytyydytys"—and the reason is its pronunciation (click the link and press the megaphon icon in the left field to listen to this happy sound). Translated as "bouncy cushion satisfaction", this word is practically a cheery song Goofy would make while walking to pick up a newspaper.
And with this jolly sounds and funny Finnish words, we now say "Näkemiin" (Nah-keh-meen) to the language of Jar Jar Binks, which was not that easy at all as I though it would be. Lot's of respect to every Finn and every child in Finland wh has to go through learning that amasing language! :)
Pidä huolta! (Pee-deh hhoo-oh-lta) Take care!
