Varkaus
Varkaus (before year 1929 ''Warkaus'') is a Middle- Savonian industrial town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region, between city of Kuopio and town of Savonlinna.
T ...
, Finland – 8 June 2019,
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, Finland) was a Finnish linguist.
Biography
Leinonen graduated from the Varkaus High School in 1967 and completed studies for a
correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
in the
Helsinki School of Economics
The Aalto University School of Business ( fi, Aalto-yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulu; sv, Aalto-universitets handelshögskola), is the largest business school in Finland. Founded in 1911, it is the second oldest business school in Finland and one of ...
, after which she studied the
Russian language
Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...
and
general linguistics
Theoretical linguistics is a term in linguistics which, like the related term general linguistics, can be understood in different ways. Both can be taken as a reference to theory of language, or the branch of linguistics which inquires into the n ...
at
Helsinki University
The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public university, public Research university, research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turk ...
, graduating in 1975. After that she taught linguistics at the university for three years. She completed her
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in 1983.
From 1981, Leinonen taught at the
Tampere University
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, motto = ''Human Potential Unlimited''
, established = 1925;
, type = Public
, rector = Mari Walls
, academic_staff = 4,200 (2021)
, students = 21,500 (2021)
, ...
, first as a lecturer of general linguistics and then as professor of
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...
from 1985 until her retirement in 2004.Facta 2001, Täydennysosa 1990, WSOY 1990, s. 340
In her dissertation, Leinonen studied the
semantics
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy
Philosophy (f ...
of the aspect system of the Russian language. The dissertation is widely appreciated internationally. Later she compared the
syntax
In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...
of the Russian and
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
languages and studied the features of spoken Russian. She also initiated the study of the
oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
of the Russian population in Finland, especially of those evacuated from the
Karelian Isthmus
The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...
, on which subject she supervised a number of academic theses. Leinonen’s own studies in this field deal with
language contact
Language contact occurs when speakers of two or more languages or varieties interact and influence each other. The study of language contact is called contact linguistics. When speakers of different languages interact closely, it is typical for th ...
s and the traditions and everyday history of Russians in Finland. She was also interested in the Russian
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 th ...
s in Stadin slangi or the Helsinki slang.
In her later life, Leinonen learnt the
Komi language
The Komi language ( kv, коми кыв, ''komi kyv''), also known as Zyryan, Zyrian or Komi-Zyryan (Komi: коми-зырян кыв, komi-zyrjan kyv),Michael Branch’s project on publishing A. J. Sjögren’s
travel journal
The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs.
One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern period ...
Baltic languages
The Baltic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 4.5 million people mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. Together with the Slavic lang ...
and studied language contacts in that area. She learnt the
Latvian language
Latvian ( ), also known as Lettish, is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, spoken in the Baltic region. It is the language of Latvians and the official language of Latvia as well as ...
and translated
Latvian literature Latvian literature began in a significant way in the 19th century.
Overview
Early Latvian literature
Before there was a written Latvian language, traditions were passed along in folk songs that are still preserved. Before the 19th century, a ...
into Finnish. She also sang in the Helsinki Latvian Choir.
Leinonen’s hobbies included
painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
and
bird watching
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...
and
travelling
Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...