Pitkiä suomalaisia sanoja – Long Finnish words

 

compound-wordsCan you make up a new Finnish word which would name this new machine? Watch this video and combine a few Finnish words into one to name it!

According to this article the Guinness Records lists the longest compound Finnish word as lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas (61 letters), meaning an  airplane jet turbine engine assistant mechanic officer student. The longest non-compound word (made up by deriving a word only with the use of particles and endings) is epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydelläänsäkäänköhän (49 letters) – you can translate it yourself  😉

The interesting thing with the compound words is that the words which make it up can be in any form. Some examples:

  • työssäkäyvä (työ, käydä) – someone who goes to work, työtätekevä (työ, tehdä) – someone who does some work
  • uudelleensynnyttäjä – someone who gives birth again
  • takaa-ajaja – chaser (with a car)

Some words can also have a figurative, new meaning after composition

  • edelläkävijä – pioneer, someone who develops new ideas, things in a certain domain
  • poissaoleva – someone who is not present mentally, absent-minded

Now, can you think of a name for the machine in the video above? Post it on Facebook, Twitter or as a comment to this article.

 


Finnish Easy Reading Book Series

Easy Readers in Finnish

FINNISH EASY READING is an easy-to-read book series in simple Finnish, on three levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced). The books are adapted following the author’s original style. They are suitable for those who study Finnish, as well as for Finnish natives who find the language complexity of the original texts too challenging.