The
Finnish language
Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedi ...
has lent few
loanword
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because ...
s to the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
;
Finnish is rather a net importer of words from English.
However the following words of
Finnish origin are some examples:
Widespread
The most commonly used Finnish word in English is ''
sauna'', which has also been loaned to many other languages.
Specialized
Words derived from Finnish used in more specialized fields:
*
aapa mire - a
marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found ...
type, in biology
*
palsa - low, often oval,
frost heaves occurring in
polar
Polar may refer to:
Geography
Polar may refer to:
* Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates
*Polar climate, the cli ...
and subpolar climates
*
pulk
A pulk (from fi, pulkka; sv, pulka; no, pulk; se, bulki) is a Nordic short, low-slung small sled used in sport or for transport, pulled by a dog or a skier, or in Sápmi pulled by reindeer.toboggan
A toboggan is a simple sled traditionally used by children. It is also a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada.
In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people (often children) down a hill ...
(derivative of word
pulkka)
*
puukko - traditional Finnish
sheath knife
A sheath knife is a fixed-bladed knife that fits in a sheath of leather or other material such as nylon or kevlar. The sheath is used to protect the knife and as a carrier. Most importantly, the sheath protects the person carrying the knife (e.g. ...
*
Rapakivi granite - a
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...
rock in
petrology
Petrology () is the branch of geology that studies rocks and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous and metamorphic petrology are commonly taught together ...
Cultural
In English, Finnish words used with reference to the Finnish culture, but not nativized in English and not used in other contexts:
*
sisu - the Finnish state of mind about strong character and 'grim forbearance,' has been documented in English since at least 1940.
*
kantele - a Finnish
zither
Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat ...
*
motti - a Finnish
military tactic
*
salmiakki - a salty
liquorice
Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted.
The liqu ...
and popular Finnish candy
*
Kilju - a homemade alcoholic beverage
See also
*
List of English words of Sami origin
*
Finnish name
*
Finglish
*
Finnish exonyms
External links
English-Finnish-English Online Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:English Words Of Finnish Origin
Finnish language
Finnish