f4. Finnish connections to English - and connected topics, published on the 31/12/2025 / Articles about the Finnish language & its dialects f1. to f22.

f4. Finnish connections to English - and connected topics, published on the 31/12/2025

Written and published by Linden Alexander Pentecost. Published on the 31st of December 2025. This article was published in the UK and only on this UK-based website, www.clwaideac-na-cuinne.co.uk . The author is also from the UK and a UK-resident. This article is unrelated to and separate from any and all of my other publications, including those which connect in some way to the topics in this article, and also including those I have published recently, and all others. No AI was used in this article. Note that yesterday I published an unrelated blog post on my Languages of Linnunrata website concerning Longsleddale, and later today I will publish another article about another Finnish related topic on my BookofDunBarra website, which will be different from and unrelated to the article on this page, even though they both connect to Finland. Both of the aforementioned webstites, known as Languages of Linnunrata and BookofDunbarra are separate from and have unrelated content to that on this Clwàideac-na-Cuinne www.clwaideac-na-cuinne.co.uk website which you are currently on and which this article is published on. This article on this page contains 1304 words and no sub sections. It also contains a photo taken by the author which has not been published before, the photo in question shows a marshy bay in Finland and is below this paragraph, but above the photo description text and the main text of this article. In the unrelated article I will publish today on my BookofDunBarra website I will include unrelated new photos also not published before. Note that this article in front of you was published after and not before article numbers f5. and f3. were published on this website (www.clwaideac-na-cuinne.co.uk).

Photo above: a marshy bay in Finland. Of course, there is generally mud or sediment in marshes, and the Finnish word for “mud” is muta, which is remarkably similar to the English word “mud”. Furthermore, marshes and lakes are often connected, as they often are in Finland, and in Finnish, a “lake” is järvi. See my comments in the main text about how this connects to a place-name element in England. I sometimes do get the feel, that some of these connections between England and Finland, may in many ways connect to watery, ancient landscapes, in many ways akin to those of much of Finland today, landscapes which are sadly rare now in England though.

There are several ancient words in English which seem to correspond to Finnish words. When including dialect words and place-name elements, this list becomes larger. One which I noticed someone comment on recently, was the similarity between English “hobby” as in a “hobby horse”, which originally meant an effigy of a horse, and the similarity between this word, and the Finnish words hevo and hevonen - “horse” and for example Veps hebo - “horse”. This is particularly interesting, given how hobby horses have been historically used in ritual dances in England, where an effigy of a horse’s neck and head is carried around as part of a dance ritual. The use of this word “hobby” in this context may imply that the possible Finnish word-like is culturally connected in some way to the cultures which originally practiced these dances with their horse effigies and depictions. These could relate back to the times of the indigenous horses in Britain. Personally, en osaa ratsastaa hevosilla, enkä ole vielä kokeillut - “I cannot ride horses, and I have not yet tried”, mutta he ovat minulle niin majesteetillisia eläimiä - “but to me they are such majestic animals”.

I have discussed several of the place-name connections elsewhere. One which I have discussed many times, including not that long ago in an unrelated article and context, is the name “Yar” or “Yare” which is the name of certain rivers in England. In Finnish I will explain it as: Englannissa on myös esim. juurisana “Yar” joka on kahden joen nimi. Tämä juurisana voi olla liittynyt Suomen kielen sanaan “järvi” - "there is also in England, for example the root-word “Yar”, which is the name of two rivers. This root-word could be connected to the Finnish word “järvi”"(lake). And also, minulla on myös monia muita ajatuksia tästä kielitieteellisesta aiheesta - “I also have a lot of other thoughts about this linguistic subject”.

I watched a video recently, where a Finnish lady talked in English about how it felt to speak Finnish. I felt that I agreed with many of her points, one of which was that speaking Finnish somehow feels "serious", not in a stereotypical sense of the word "serious" in English, but rather, serious, focused, observational, specific about detail, this is how I feel when I speak Finnish. During one of my earlier online Finnish lessons back in 2021 I remember giving a detailed answer when my teacher asked me mitä kuuluu? which means approximately "how are you?". She told me that this is correct, that often when asked this question, Finns will relay detail and information to give context. By contrast, when we ask "how are you?" in English, it is normal to give only a very short answer. To answer this question in English for longer than 10 seconds, would not be a usual way of answering the question.

I feel that different languages do bring out different aspects of myself. When I speak Swedish, I feel relatively similar to when I am speaking English - but happier and somehow more in tune with myself. When I speak Northern Norwegian, I feel relaxed, casual, quiet and confident. When I speak Finnish, I feel calm, relaxed, serious, but also communicative and in a sense commanding (not of others, but of the subjects and topics I am speaking about in Finnish). When I speak Scottish Gaelic, I feel joyous, connected, gentle, flowing like music and ocean currents. When I speak Ulster Irish, I feel somewhat serious, poetic, and as though the ancestors of Ireland speak through me. In many ways I feel similar when I speak Scottish Gaelic. When I speak French I feel casual, amused, and fun, but also confident. When I speak Spanish, I feel relaxed, communicative and - strangely romantic, poetic and spiritual. But of course there is an element of spirituality whenever I speak a language. The other languages that I speak, I do not speak regularly nor well enough to fully become aware of my feelings on the same level. When I speak Quechua for example though, I feel I embody some kind of wisdom, joy and happiness, although I cannot quite put it into words. I could say in Finnish: tunnen iloiselta puhuessani suomea kanss - "I also feel happy when I am speaking Finnish", mutta sisällinen iloisuus on, mikä on yhteydessä luontoon ja iso-isiin minun ympärilläni - "but it is an inner happiness, connected to the nature and ancestors around me". In addition I will say: mä luulen että englantilaiset myös usein eivät ymmärrä miksi mä olen kiinostunut suomen kielestä. Kyllä, täällä on paljon ihmisiä jotka puhuvat viikingeistä, ja heidän jumalistaan jne. mutta Suomen kieli on heille jotain etäistä ja outoa - "I think also that English people often do not understand why I am interested in the Finnish language. Indeed, here there are many folk who speak about the Vikings and their gods etc, but to them the Finnish language is something distant and strange." Note that the Finnish abbreviation jne. means "etc." and is short for ja niin edelleen.

I hope that this article was an interesting read. I employed some tools to check for a few changes to make in the Finnish sentences I wrote, but they were mostly correct as I originally wrote then. This article is dedicated to the Finns. For reference purposes, the URL of this article is: https://www.clwaideac-na-cuinne.co.uk/articles-about-the-finnish-language-its-dialects-f1-to-f22/f4-finnish-connections-to-english-and-connected-topics-published-on-the-31-12-2025 .