Finnish compounds that will make you chuckle

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Over the past seven years, my numerous attempts at learning Finnish—the furthest step outside of my linguistic comfort zone thus far—usually led to three states of mind: jaw-dropping stupefaction, utter frustration and daunting self-doubt.

My futile struggles with the Uralic language famously infamous for having 15 noun cases would have been largely unrewarding if it wasn’t for one thing: the occasional giggle as I went “you call this thing what?!”

Similarly to German, the Finnish language loves compound words. It is, nota bene, known for having produced monstrosities such as peruspalveluliikelaitoskuntayhtymä (“a municipal utility for the provision of basic services”, 34 letters) or lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas (which translates approximately to “a technical warrant officer trainee specialised in aircraft jet engines”, 61 letters). Although known rather from internet folklore than from actual everyday use, the latter did de facto exist as a military term.[1] Furthermore, the free forming of compounds in Finnish, which allows one to add nouns after each other without breaking the rules of grammar, makes it possible for new words to be formed even on the fly during a conversation.

But apart from being outstanding at fabricating double-digit letter monsters, Finnish composition also has a way with naming things based quite frankly on what they are and what they do. Even though I doubt any word will ever be able to outdo the German “Antibabypille” for oral contraceptives in this regard, one has to admit that the Finns have shown remarkable creativity in coming up with the following words:

 

arpakuutio (n.) – dice
literally: “lottery cube”
(arpa = lot, kuutio = cube)
EDITshutterstock_dice
tietokone (n.) – computer

literally: “knowledge machine”
(tieto = knowledge, information, data, intelligence,
kone = machine)

EDITshutterstock_computer
hammasraudat (n. pl.) – braces

literally: “tooth irons”
(hammas = tooth, rauta = iron)

EDITshutterstock_braces
huutokauppa (n.) – auction

literally “shouting store”
(huuto = scream, shout, kauppa = store, trade)

EDITshutterstock_auction
rintaliivit (n. pl.) – bra

literally: “breast vests”
(rinta = breast, chest, liivi = vest, waistcoat)

EDITshutterstock_bra
väliliha (n.) – perineum

literally: “middle meat”
(väli- = mid, interval, liha = meat, flesh)

EDITshutterstock_perineum
 

This list wouldn’t be complete without:

 

lohikäärme (n.) – dragon
literally “salmon-snake”
(lohi = salmon, käärme = snake, serpent)
EDITshutterstock_dragon

If the question of how exactly the majestic, fire-spewing mythical creature resembles an oily fish is beyond you, there are several theories about the possible etymology of the word. According to the most widely supported one, lohikäärme comes from the old Swedish word floghdragi, which literally means flying snake, with only the second stem having been translated into Finnish and the first one being a loanword.[2] According to another, the salmon part of the word derived from logi, an old Norse word meaning fire, while yet another suggests that it comes from the Finnish word louhi, meaning rocky mountains.[3]

However, why and how exactly has flogh (or logi, or even louhi) come to phonetically evolve into the Finns’ most popular choice of fish, remains a mystery.

 

Sources:

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_words#Finnish

[2] http://www.kielikello.fi/index.php?mid=2&pid=11&aid=360

[3] https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohik%C3%A4%C3%A4rme

 

Written by  Milena Nowak

Terminology trainee at TermCoord