The Finnish Language

This video is a mini-documentary about the Finnish Language. First I investigate the history of the Finnish language before dissecting some of its important features.

(Disclosure: if you upgrade to a premium account, Langfocus gets a small referral fee that helps support this channel.)

Special thanks to Atte Kankkunen, Iida Virtanen, and Tura Satana for their audio recordings and advice.

Special thanks to: Nicholas Shelokov, Brandon Gonzalez, 谷雨 穆, Adrian Zhang, Vadim Sobolev, Yixin Alfred Wong, Kaan Ergen, Sky Vied, Romain Paulus, Panot, Erik Edelmann, Bennet, James Zavaleta, Ulrike Baumann, Ian Martyn, Justin Faist, Jeff Miller, Stephen Lawson, Howard Stratton, George Greene, Ian Martyn, and Panthea Madjidi for their generous Patreon support.

Nicholas Shelokov, Brandon Gonzalez, and Adrian Zhang, Yixin Alfred Wang, and Vadim Sobolev.

Music: Intro: "Sax Attack" by Dougie Wood.

Outro: "Circular" by Gunnar Olsen.

[Langfocus]

(Full disclosure: if you sign up for a premium account, Langfocus receives a small referral fee. But if I didn't like it, I wouldn't recommend it, and the free account is pretty good on its own

[TheRealFOSFOR]

A few different ways to bend the word "dog" (koira) in Finnish:
Koira, koiran, koiraa, koiran, koirassa, koirasta, koiraan, koiralla, koiralta, koiralle, koirana, koiraksi, koiratta, koirineen, koirin, koirasi, koirani, koiransa, koiramme, koiranne, koiraani, koiraasi, koiraansa, koiraamme, koiraanne, koirassani, koirassasi, koirassansa, koirassamme, koirassanne, koirastani, koirastasi, koirastansa, koirastamme, koirastanne, koirallani, koirallasi, koirallansa, koirallamme, koirallanne, koiranani, koiranasi, koiranansa, koiranamme, koirananne, koirakseni, koiraksesi, koiraksensa, koiraksemme, koiraksenne, koirattani, koirattasi, koirattansa, koirattamme, koirattanne, koirineni, koirinesi, koirinensa, koirinemme, koirinenne, koirakaan, koirankaan, koiraakaan, koirassakaan, koirastakaan, koiraankaan, koirallakaan, koiraltakaan, koirallekaan, koiranakaan, koiraksikaan, koirattakaan, koirineenkaan, koirinkaan, koirako, koiranko, koiraako, koirassako, koirastako, koiraanko, koirallako, koiraltako, koiralleko, koiranako, koiraksiko, koirattako, koirineenko, koirinko, koirasikaan, koiranikaan, koiransakaan, koirammekaan, koirannekaan, koiraanikaan, koiraasikaan, koiraansakaan, koiraammekaan, koiraannekaan, koirassanikaan, koirassasikaan, koirassansakaan, koirassammekaan, koirassannekaan, koirastanikaan, koirastasikaan, koirastansakaan, koirastammekaan, koirastannekaan, koirallanikaan, koirallasikaan, koirallansakaan, koirallammekaan, koirallannekaan, koirananikaan, koiranasikaan, koiranansakaan, koiranammekaan, koiranannekaan, koiraksenikaan, koiraksesikaan, koiraksensakaan, koiraksemmekaan, koiraksennekaan, koirattanikaan, koirattasikaan, koirattansakaan, koirattammekaan, koirattannekaan, koirinenikaan, koirinesikaan, koirinensakaan, koirinemmekaan, koirinennekaan, koirasiko, koiraniko, koiransako, koirammeko, koiranneko, koiraaniko, koiraasiko, koiraansako, koiraammeko, koiraanneko, koirassaniko, koirassasiko, koirassansako, koirassammeko, koirassanneko, koirastaniko, koirastasiko, koirastansako, koirastammeko, koirastanneko, koirallaniko, koirallasiko, koirallansako, koirallammeko, koirallanneko, koirananiko, koiranasiko, koiranansako, koiranammeko, koirananneko, koirakseniko, koiraksesiko, koiraksensako, koiraksemmeko, koiraksenneko, koirattaniko, koirattasiko, koirattansako, koirattammeko, koirattanneko, koirineniko, koirinesiko, koirinensako, koirinemmeko, koirinenneko, koirasikaanko, koiranikaanko, koiransakaanko, koirammekaanko, koirannekaanko, koiraanikaanko, koiraasikaanko, koiraansakaanko, koiraammekaanko, koiraannekaanko, koirassanikaanko, koirassasikaanko, koirassansakaanko, koirassammekaanko, koirassannekaanko, koirastanikaanko, koirastasikaanko, koirastansakaanko, koirastammekaanko, koirastannekaanko, koirallanikaanko, koirallasikaanko, koirallansakaanko, koirallammekaanko, koirallannekaanko, koirananikaanko, koiranasikaanko, koiranansakaanko, koiranammekaanko, koiranannekaanko, koiraksenikaanko, koiraksesikaanko, koiraksensakaanko, koiraksemmekaanko, koiraksennekaanko, koirattanikaanko, koirattasikaanko, koirattansakaanko, koirattammekaanko, koirattannekaanko, koirinenikaanko, koirinesikaanko, koirinensakaanko, koirinemmekaanko, koirinennekaanko, koirasikokaan, koiranikokaan, koiransakokaan, koirammekokaan, koirannekokaan, koiraanikokaan, koiraasikokaan, koiraansakokaan, koiraammekokaan, koiraannekokaan, koirassanikokaan, koirassasikokaan, koirassansakokaan, koirassammekokaan, koirassannekokaan, koirastanikokaan, koirastasikokaan, koirastansakokaan, koirastammekokaan, koirastannekokaan, koirallanikokaan, koirallasikokaan, koirallansakokaan, koirallammekokaan, koirallannekokaan, koirananikokaan, koiranasikokaan, koiranansakokaan, koiranammekokaan, koiranannekokaan, koiraksenikokaan, koiraksesikokaan, koiraksensakokaan, koiraksemmekokaan, koiraksennekokaan, koirattanikokaan, koirattasikokaan, koirattansakokaan, koirattammekokaan, koirattannekokaan, koirinenikokaan, koirinesikokaan, koirinensakokaan, koirinemmekokaan, koirinennekokaan

And yes... there are more.

[FLS]

This man knows things about my language that I don't.

[veuxtuetremonami]

i met a linguist in finland. he was Romanian and knew 14 languages perfectly (it was impressive, he spoke with no accent) including very challenging ones. he told me that after he finally succeeded in learning Finnish (after many years actually living in helsinki) he realized it was its biggest success. "After you learn Finnish, you have the right to see yourself as the king of the world" he said

[hh-einq]

English: "I wonder if I should run around aimlessly"
Finnish: "Juoksentelisinkohan"

[Pyovali]

-Kokko, kokoo kokkoo koko kokko.
-Koko kokkoko?
-Koko kokko.
Finnish is pure poetry.

[aspexpl]

Fact : about 70 people in Finland don't belong to a metal band.

[e.f.]

Finnish: has no grammatical gender
me: "Well, maybe this wouldn't be too hard to learn"
Finnish: also has 15 grammatical cases
me: "Finland is too cold anyway"

[daphneedescends]

I'm greek and I want to share a funny story with my finnish friends:
The old greek flag is the same as finnish flag, EXCEPT, the cross is white and the rest is blue.
When we were around 5 to 7 y.o. in school, in national holiday days (2 times per year) the teachers would give us flags with only the lineart of the flag, for us to colour.
Me and some other kids, always messed the colours up and practically drew the finnish flag. The teachers would explain that this is not the right way, but never excluded us from the feast. So every kid would hold its flag for the school feast, only about 1/4-1/3 of them were practically finnish ones.
The finnish flag might be the first flag I knew apart from greek for that reason.

[victormark]

Many years ago I was in Finland on a business trip. I nervously tried to learn Finnish. I did not do well. I walked up to a taxi driver in Lahti and said, “Puhutko englantia?”
In a perfect New York accent he replied in a bored way, “Yeah. Where do you wanna go?”

[mateszegedi]

I’m Hungarian, also a Uralic language speaker, and for me, the Finnish grammar is soo logical.Finnish has a really close relation with the Hungarian language.The system of the two language is really close.I think your language is interesting and very beautiful! 🇭🇺❤️🇫🇮

[abbieb]

I've been trying to learn Finnish. The grammar is difficult. But I love how reliable the pronunciation is. And since it's so different and uncommon (and Google doesn't understand it), it feels more like learning a secret code than a language.

[esonoimporta]

Learning Finnish is no joke. I learn Finnish and now am at intermediate level and learning a different language can really open your mind. You literally have to change your way of thinking and approach to the language.

[ristoalanko]

One peculiarity in English is the game "Spelling bee". To a Finn, that is completely incomprehensible. Finnish is "a letter makes a sound, always the same" language. If you know the word, you know how it is written and how it is split to syllables. That's first grade stuff in school. The pronunciation of English words is at first very strange.

[Douglas_Hamilton]

I'm Swedish but Finland is by far the coolest country in this region. I used to work with people in Finland (office in Espoo) and I recall them as a little macho, very honest, no BS behind your back and with a big warm heart. Also, always straight and honest in doing business. In addition Helsinki is a beautiful Easter egg with all its great buildings and parks.

[sallakolehmainen]

In spoken, casual Finnish we often use "se", the Finnish equivalent of "it", instead of "hän".

[stefanakerman]

I belong to 5% minority that speaks Swedish so had to learn Finnish in school. Found it difficult because my surrounding where totally Swedish spoken. At the end I went to Sweden to get my degree so I hadn't to worry to manage the Finnish in addition to all other courses. Now I am living in Finland again and manage in Finnish vere well. My children are bilingual so they speak both Finnish and Swedish as native languages, a huge advantage in the daily life and job applications.

[JoonaBruh]

Finnish is easy.


Perkele and Noni. The only words you need to sruvive in Finland.

[vsm]

I love how Finnish sounds. I don't understand a thing, but I love the sound of it. It's so poetic and rhythmic at the same time.

[SuperCompany]

Oh the dialects are noticable as fuck! The pronounciation doesn't just change, the entire word changes.