Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Linguaphile
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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-01-20, 19:22

Estonian
Conjugation of verbs elama "to live" and tulema "to come"

Infinitives:
1: elama tulema
2: elada tulla

Indicative present, affirmative
1s elan tulen
2s elad tuled
3s elab tuleb
1p elame tuleme
2p elate tulete
3p elavad tulevad

Indicative present, negative
1s mina ei ela mina ei tule
2s sina ei ela sina ei tule
3s tema ei ela tema ei tule
1s meie ei ela meie ei tule
2s teie ei ela teie ei tule
3p nemad ei ela nemad ei tule

Indicative simple past, affirmative
1s elasin tulin
2s elasid tulid
3s elas tuli
1p elasime tulime
2p elasite tulite
3p elasid tulid

Indicative simple past, negative
1s mina ei elanud mina ei tulnud
2s sina ei elanud sina ei tulnud
3s tema ei elanud tema ei tulnud
1s meie ei elanud meie ei tulnud
2s teie ei elanud teie ei tulnud
3p nemad ei elanud nemad ei tulnud

Past perfect, affirmative
1s olen elanud olen tulnud
2s oled elanud oled tulnud
3s on elanud on tulnud
1p oleme elanud oleme tulnud
2p olete elanud olete tulnud
3p on elanud on tulnud

Past perfect, negative
1s mina ei ole elanud mina ei ole tulnud
2s sina ei ole elanud sina ei ole tulnud
3s tema ei ole elanud tema ei ole tulnud
1s meie ei ole elanud meie ei ole tulnud
2s teie ei ole elanud teie ei ole tulnud
3p nemad ei ole elanud nemad ei ole tulnud

Imperative
2s ela! tule!
3s elagu! tulgu!
1p elagem! (elame!) tulgem! (tuleme!)
2p elage! tulge!
3p elagu! tulgu!

Imperative, negative
2s ära ela! ära tule!
3s ärgu elagu! ärgu tulgu!
1p ärgem elagem!, ärme elame! ärgem tulgem!, ärme tuleme!
2p ärge elage! ärge tulge!
3p ärgu elagu! ärgu tulgu!

:arrow: for comparison
Last edited by Linguaphile on 2019-01-20, 20:02, edited 1 time in total.
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Naava » 2019-01-20, 19:50

Linguaphile wrote:Indicative simple past, affirmative
1s elasin tulisin
2s elasid tulisid
3s elas tuli
1p elasime tulisime
2p elasite tulisite
3p elasid tulisid

Isn't it tulin / tulid / tulime / tulite / tulid? :hmm:

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-01-20, 20:05

Naava wrote:Isn't it tulin / tulid / tulime / tulite / tulid? :hmm:

Muidugi on. That's what I get for putting it right next to elama and using cut-and-past (with a headache!) :doggy: Somehow I always manage to mess these up somehow. Will check Livonian later when the headach is gone.
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

h34
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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby h34 » 2019-01-21, 4:45

Linguaphile wrote:
Naava wrote:Isn't it tulin / tulid / tulime / tulite / tulid? :hmm:

Muidugi on. That's what I get for putting it right next to elama and using cut-and-past (with a headache!) :doggy: Somehow I always manage to mess these up somehow. Will check Livonian later when the headach is gone.

Thanks a lot for writing them all down anyway! Hope you're feeling better soon. :)

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-01-21, 7:20

h34 wrote:
Linguaphile wrote:
Naava wrote:Isn't it tulin / tulid / tulime / tulite / tulid? :hmm:

Muidugi on. That's what I get for putting it right next to elama and using cut-and-past (with a headache!) :doggy: Somehow I always manage to mess these up somehow. Will check Livonian later when the headache is gone.

Thanks a lot for writing them all down anyway! Hope you're feeling better soon. :)

Thanks! I am. Lately I've been getting headaches when I use the computer too long so it's not easy to avoid. Anyway I checked Livonian and it's good - it helps that I was looking at a conjugation table to make sure when I posted that one, rather than doing it just from my head.
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-02-28, 1:10

Finnish conversational phrases

Terve = Moi = Hei = Hello = Hi
Hyvää päivää! = Päivää = Good day!/Good afternoon!
Hyvää huomenta! = Huomenta = Good morning!
Hyvää iltaa! = Iltaa = Good evening!
Hyvää yötä! = Good night!
Mitä kuuluu? = How are you?
Kiitos hyvää = Fine, thank you
Miten menee? = How's it going?
Kiitos hyvin = Fine, thank you
Näkemiin = Goodbye = Until next time
Ole hyvä ja... = Please...
Kiitos = Thank you
Anteeksi = Excuse me
Olen pahoillani = I'm sorry
Paljonko se maksaa? = Kuinka paljon se maksaa? = How much does this cost?
Missä on lähin... = Where is the nearest...?
pankkiautomaatti = ATM
pankki = bank
kylpyhuone = bathroom
kauppa = store
bussipysäkki = bus stop
Puhutko suomea? = Do you speak Finnish?
ruotsia = Swedish
viroa = Estonian
venäjää = Russian
saksaa = German
ranskaa = French
englantia = English
En ymmärrä = I don't understand.
Ole hyvä puhua hitaasti = Please speak slowly.
Sano se uudelleen = Please say it again.
Mikä sinun nimesi on? = What is your name?
Nimeni on = My name is
Mistä olet kotoisin? = Where are you from?
Minne olet menossa? = Mihin olet menossa? = Where are you going?
Menen kotiin = I'm going home.
Mennään kotiin = Let's go home.
En tiedä = I don't know.
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Naava » 2019-02-28, 10:15

Linguaphile wrote:Finnish conversational phrases

A few additions:

Terve = Moi = Hei = Moikka = Heippa
Hyvää yötä! = Öitä!
Näkemiin = Näkemisiin = Goodbye = Until next time
Kuulemiin = Kuulemisiin = Goodbye (when on phone)
Hyvästi = Goodbye (when you're not expecting to see each other again)
Olen pahoillani = Anteeksi = Anna/Antakaa anteeksi
bussipysäkki = linja-autopysäkki
Puhutko/Puhutteko suomea?
Voisitko/Voisitteko puhua hitaammin? = Puhuisitko/Puhuisitteko hitaammin? = Please speak slowly.
Voisitko/Voisitteko toistaa? = Please say it again.
Mikä sinun nimesi/teidän nimenne on?
Mistä olet/olette kotoisin?
Minne olet/olette menossa? = Mihin olet/olette menossa?

Also, I'm not quite comfortable with the translation of 'please', since the word doesn't exist in Finnish. In certain contexts, you can use ole hyvä / olkaa hyvä / olkaa hyvät or kiitos but it's more common to just use conditional, plural 'you', or voisitko/voisitteko + verb or antaisitko/antaisitteko + verb. You can also say olisitko/olisitteko niin kiltti ja... (would you be so kind and...) But none of these are exactly as handy as 'please'. The closest you can get to use-it-anywhere-to-be-polite kind of 'please' is the conditional.

For example, if you were in a cafe and said "ole hyvä ja anna kahvi" it would sound really really odd. "Kahvi, kiitos" is the norm; many say just "kahvi" and nothing else, although some people criticise this. Another option is to say "May I have a coffee" (Saisinko kahvin?) or "I would take a coffee" (Mä ottaisin kahvin) or "I could take a coffee" (Mä voisin ottaa kahvin). But the problem here is that it doesn't really work in standard Finnish. :hmm: Saying minä ottaisin kahvin sounds emphasized, like YOU want to drink coffee.

All in all, it's somewhat difficult to list conversational phrases in standard Finnish because standard Finnish is hardly ever used in conversations... :D Even this list includes words that are not exactly standard Finnish, like "moi" and "hei" or the question "miten menee".

About olen pahoillani / anteeksi / anna anteeksi:

Anteeksi is the use-it-for-all word: it can mean heartfelt 'I'm sorry', but it's also something you can say if you bump into
some random person on street or when you want someone's attention or when you want to make people move out of your way. Although most people would say nothing or just a short oho if they bump into another person on street. Maybe even oho sori if they're feeling polite that day.

Olen pahoillani is like when you've made a mistake and you want to apologize. You could use it if you're late: olen pahoillani, että olen myöhässä. It's also used for condolences. I guess you could translate it as 'I feel sorry'.

Anna/antakaa anteeksi is more sincere than plain anteeksi. It's something like 'please forgive me'; I could use it if I accidentally hit my friend when putting on a jacket or something, but also if I had fucked up something. The difference between anna anteeksi and olen pahoillani is IMO that anna anteeksi is used when you did something wrong (and you expect the other person to be angry or hurt because of it) whereas olen pahoillani is used when you're the one feeling bad. Sometimes it's interchangeable with olen pahoillani, like if you lied about something and then you want to explain why you did so - you could use both anna anteeksi and olen pahoillani, even in the same sentence.

Bussipysäkki is also more spoken language than standard because bussi is a loanword. The "Finnish" name for a bus is linja-auto.

Ole hyvä puhua hitaasti sounds odd. Ole hyvä sounds a bit like giving a permission to do something IMO (maybe because you can say ole hyvä ja istu alas for 'please sit down' or olkaa hyvä ja tulkaa sisään for 'please come in'). I also think that it's more common to say 'speak more slowly' than 'speak slowly'.

Sano se uudelleen is technically correct, but I'm not sure if anyone would actually use it. 'Toistaa' (to repeat) feels more natural to me here.

I also added the polite/plural 'you' forms just in case. :D

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-03-01, 2:37

Thanks Naava! Kiitos!
Good point about "conversational" phrases in standard Finnish. Perhaps I should label them "travellers' phrases in standard Finnish" instead? Or "conversational phrases in travellers' Finnish"? :silly:
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Naava » 2019-03-01, 9:55

Linguaphile wrote:Thanks Naava! Kiitos!
Good point about "conversational" phrases in standard Finnish. Perhaps I should label them "travellers' phrases in standard Finnish" instead? Or "conversational phrases in travellers' Finnish"? :silly:

No problem! (And thanks to you too for making that list in the first place!)

I don't know about the title - feel free to use whatever you like. :mrgreen:

More comments on greetings: I've sometimes seen people claiming that hei and moi are used when meeting and hei hei and moi moi when leaving, but I don't think that's true. IMO it's more about the context and your personal choice. :hmm: I've definitely heard moi and moi moi both when meeting and when leaving. Like here:
► Show Spoiler


Also, I'm not sure if it should be included in the list but did you know that we use tere (and tere tere) for 'hi'? :mrgreen: I've always thought it's funny how it's a neutral greeting in Estonian but very informal in Finnish. (I think it's a loan but I'm not sure.)
► Show Spoiler

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-06-30, 16:16

Conjugation of verbs elää "to live" and tulla "to come"

Infinitives:
elää tulla

Indicative present, affirmative
1s elän tulen
2s elät tulet
3s elää tulee
1p elämme tulemme
2p elätte tulette
3p elävät tulevat

Indicative present, negative
1s en elä en tule
2s et elä et tule
3s ei elä ei tule
1s emme elä emme tule
2s ette elä ette tule
3p eivät elä eivät tule

Indicative simple past, affirmative
1s elin tulin
2s elit tulit
3s eli tuli
1p elimme tulimme
2p elitte tulitte
3p elivät tulivat

Indicative simple past, negative
1s en elänyt en tullut
2s et elänyt et tullut
3s ei elänyt ei tullut
1s emme eläneet emme tulleet
2s ette eläneet ette tulleet
3p eivät eläneet eivät tulleet

Past perfect, affirmative
1s olen elänyt olen tullut
2s olet elänyt olet tullut
3s on elänyt on tullut
1p olemme eläneet olenme tulleet
2p olette eläneet olette tulleet
3p ovat eläneet ovat tulleet

Past perfect, negative
1s en ole elänyt en ole tullut
2s et ole elänyt et ole tullut
3s ei ole elänyt ei ole tullut
1s emme ole eläneet emme ole tulleet
2s ette ole eläneet ette ole tulleet
3p eivät ole eläneet eivät ole tulleet

Imperative
2s elä! tule!
3s eläköön! tulkoon!
1p eläkäämme! tulkaamme
2p eläkää! tulkaa!
3p eläkööt! tulkoot!

Imperative, negative
2s älä elä! älä tule!
3s älköön eläkö! älköön tulko!
1p älkäämme eläkö! älkäämme tulko!
2p älkää eläkö! älkää tulko!
3p älkööt eläkö! älkööt tulko!

:arrow: for comparison
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-07-02, 21:56

Weather terms in Finnish

sää, ilma = weather
sääennuste = weather forecast
kaunis sää = nice (beautiful) weather
huono sää = bad weather
aurinko = sun
aurinkoinen = sunny
aurinko paistaa = the sun shines
kirkas sää = clear weather
pilvi = cloud
pilvinen = cloudy
kuiva = dry
tuuli = wind
tuulinen = windy
myrsky = storm
myrskyinen = stormy
ukkostaa = to thunder
ukkonen = thunder
salama = lightning
ukonilma = thunderstorm
sumu = fog
sumuinen = foggy
sademäärä = precipitation
sade = rain
vihma = drizzle
sateinen = rainy
sataa vettä = to rain
sateenkaari = rainbow
lumi = snow
luminen = snowy
sataa lunta = to snow
räntä = sleet
rae (rakeet) = hail
sataa rakeita = to hail
halla = hard frost/freeze (temperatures that fall so low that plants are damaged)
pakkanen = frost/freeze (temperature lower than 0°C)
kuura = rime
jää = ice
jäinen = icy
kylmä = cold
lämmin = warm
kuuma = hot
kostea = humid
kaste = dew

:arrow: for comparison
Last edited by Linguaphile on 2019-08-21, 13:25, edited 1 time in total.
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-08-17, 14:43

Bodies of water in Finnish

vesistö = body of water
vesi = water
makea vesi = fresh water
merivesi = sea water
lähdevesi = spring water
lähde = spring
kaivo = well
puro = brook, creek
joki = river
joenuoma = riverbed
joentörmä = riverbank
järvi = lake
lampi = pond
lätäkkö = puddle
suo = marsh, swamp, bog
tekoallas = reservoir
koski = waterfall
joen suu = mouth of the river
ranta = shore, beach
rannikko = coast
lahti = bay, gulf
salmi = strait
meri = sea
laine, aalto = wave
saari = island
luoto = small island, islet
niemi = peninsula
näköpiiri, taivaanranta = horizon

:arrow: for comparison
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Naava » 2019-08-21, 11:29

Linguaphile wrote:sää, ilma = weather

Also keli = bad driving conditions ; but especially in spoken language, weather in general

ukkosta = to thunder

ukkostaa (ukkosta is the partitive of ukkonen)

ukonilma = thunderstorm

Also ukkonen.

sumu = fog

More words:
usva = fog (no scientific definition)
utu = fog (visibility around 1-10 km)
sumu = fog (visibility less than 1 km)
auer, autere, päivänsavu, aurinkousva = fog, smog (caused by something else than water drops in air; eg. sand, air pollution, ash)

These have adjectives usvainen, utuinen, autereinen.

vihma = rain

sade = rain
vihma = drizzle that is usually carried by a (gust of) wind (the kind of rain that consists of small water drops and hits you in the face)
----> verb vihmoa
tihku = drizzle (small water drops that look almost like fog)
----> verb tihuttaa, tihuttaa
(pisara = a drop)
----> verb pisaroida = to drizzle (a few drops of water here and there, the kind of rain when you can't decide if you really need an umbrella or not)
kaatosade = downpour (rain that looks like a shower)
----> verb sataa kaatamalla (kaataa = to make something fall, to push over, to pour, to tip)

sataa = no exact translation, but it means that something's coming down from the sky
sataa vettä, sataa = to rain ('vettä' is often omitted)
sataa lunta = to snow
sataa rakeita = to hail
(psst:
sataa rekeita = to hail

-> rakeita)

lumi = snow
luminen = snowy
sataa lunta = to snow
räntä = sleet
rae (rakeet) = hail
sataa rekeita = to hail
halla = frost
pakkanen = hard frost

kuura = rime
jää = ice
jäinen = icy

halla = temperatures that fall so low that plants are damaged (usually around 0°C)
pakkanen = any temperature lower than 0°C
----> tulipalopakkanen = extremely low temperatures (from tulipalo = a fire (as in "the house is in fire"))

I'll add more because I can! :twisted:

Snow on the ground:
hanki = (a thick layer of) snow on the ground (a few centimetres at minimum)
kinos = a long-ish pile of snow, often formed by wind ; can also refer to the snow piles made by snow ploughs
----> verb kinostaa = to form snow piles
----> verb kinostua = to form into snow piles, to pile up
nietos = a kinos made by windy snowstorms
----> verb nietostua = to form into kinos, to pile up

(So kinos = the snow is already on the ground when a wind starts blowing; nietos = it's snowing and it's windy. I don't know how well people know the exact definitions, but for example to me nietos is smaller than kinos, and nietos is on the top of the snow blanket while kinos is next to something (houses, poles, roadsides). IMO it makes sense because if it's snowing and windy, the snow piles up evenly everywhere - but if it's windy afterwards, the wind pushes the snow forward until there's something to stop it from moving.)

Types of snow when it's on the ground:
loska = almost 100% water
sohjo = snow+water, but more snow and less water than in loska
(vesi)hyhmä = sohjo that has been mixed with water (eg. when you have a hole in the ice, there's often hyhmä in the hole)
nuoska = snow that has been softened by a warm weather (ideal for making snow balls)
----> other terms of which some might be dialectal: suojalumi, suvilumi, rääpäkkä, mätälumi, takkala, huove
pakkaslumi = a powdery snow formed by (very) cold weather; it's very light and has very little water in it
vuotos = new, freshly fallen dry snow
ajolumi = snow carried by the wind
hankikanto = a hard surface of snow that carries your weight
----> other names: hankiainen, kantohanki, kestohanki, hankikanne, kerste, kirsi
sevä = hard snow, especially used by reindeer herders: a reindeer can't dig lichen through sevä
tykkylumi, tykky = heavy, tightly packed snow on tree branches; the weight can break branche. There's two ways how it's formed: it can come from rime ("from the air") or from nuoska (from snow).

Types of snow in the air:
räntä = snow+water (on the ground it becomes sohjo or loska)
siide = fine snow or drizzle that is somewhere between snow and water
höyty, hitva, hile = snow that looks like glitter in the air
pyry = heavy snowing, snowstorm (an example)
-----> pyryttää = to snow heavily
tuisku = snowing + strong wind or strong gusts of wind that carry the falling snow (at your face and inside your collar, usually, like this)
lumimyrsky = snow storm (worse than tuisku or pyry) (an example)

Ice and other not-snow-words:
huurre, härmä, kuura = little icicles formed due to differences in humidity conditions. Kuura has usually bigger icicles than huurre. Wikipedia offers these translations: kuura = frost, huurre = hard rime
-----> kuurankukka= lit. frost flower; frost that has covered larger areas, forming "flowers" (usually on windows or wing mirrors)
riite, riide, riitta, riitto, kerte, kohma, kahma, hyyde = thin icy cover formed over snow; räntä that has frozen soon after it touched the ground
kohva = frozen mixture of water and snow on ice
polanne = partially frozen snow layer that has become packed under weight; also snow drift made by the cars in the center of the street
kalto, kaltto, kallo, jääkallo = icy spot on a road
-----> pääkallokeli = extremely icy (and thus dangerous) roads; a pun from jääkallo + keli
kaljama = slippery ice, especially on roads
iljanne = even, smooth layer of ice; usually transparent; formed by supercooled water (an example) ; sometimes water that has frozen on the ground can be called iljanne as well
-----> adjective iljakas

Miscellaneous:
pälvi = spot of ground in the sunny places where the snow is melting

Some of the translations were taken from here. There's also more snow-related vocabulary there in Finnish with English translations if you're interested to learn more. I haven't included all of the existing words here, and although there might be some dialectal words in my list, I tried to keep it standard language and left out the words I knew 100% sure were dialectal.
-------------------

Also some other weather terms missing from the list:
pouta, poutasää = non-rainy weather; in spoken language it often means 'sunny', but in forecasts it can be anything except rain
suoja, suojasää = temperatures over 0°C in winter
-----> suojalumi = the type of snow in tempeartures over 0°C, cf. nuoska
-----> cf. also Estonian soe (sooja-) = warm

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-08-21, 12:58

Kiitos!

By the way, is this used for other forms of precipitation, or only rain?
Naava wrote:sade = rain

Because in Estonian it is any sort of precipitation (when talking about rain specifically, it's vihm), and Wiktionary (not that I should trust Wiktionary) says this
sade:
(meteorology) any precipitation from the sky (e.g. rain, snow, sleet, hailstones)
(by extension) a rain (any matter moving or falling, usually through air)

and you also mentioned the verb sataa as having that more general meaning regarding any sort of precipitation (which is the same as Estonian sadama, and etymologically a verb form related to sade):
Naava wrote:sataa = no exact translation, but it means that something's coming down from the sky
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Naava » 2019-08-22, 10:03

Linguaphile wrote:Kiitos!

By the way, is this used for other forms of precipitation, or only rain?
Naava wrote:sade = rain

Good catch! You're right, sade can be anything coming down from the sky. Most of the time it's used to refer to water (=just normal rain) so I stopped there and didn't think further. :P But if you check dictionaries, sade is one possible translation to 'precipitation'. (Other terms are sadanta and sademäärä. The latter is literally 'amount of sade' so here we go again.)

Moreover, you can always specify the form of precipitation by adding a modifier to sade: vesisade (water), lumisade (snow), raesade (hail), räntäsade (...sleet?). Even though we use sade for 'rain', you need to use vesisade if you mention any other kind of precipitation with it. For example, Wikipedia lists the main forms of precipitation: Sadantaan sisältyy vesi-, lumi-, räntä- ja raesade. They have to use vesisade or it wouldn't make sense. Sade can also refer to other forms of precipitation even in everyday language. Another example from Wikipedia: Jos sade on tullut lumena, se sulatetaan ja punnitaan. = If precipitation comes down in snow, it's melted and weighed.

TL;DR: sade is 'precipitation', vesisade is 'rain', but we like to drop the 'vesi' part and just call it sade.

------
One more weather term that I remembered:
helle = temperatures over +25C

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-09-13, 13:35

Vowel harmony in Standard Finnish:

Front vowelsBack vowelsNeutral
ä ö ya o ue i

Finnish examples:
  • jää = ice; jäähän = into the ice (the presence of front vowels in the word jää requires the suffix to be -hän)
  • suo = swamp; suohon = into the swamp (the presence of back vowels in the word suo requires the suffix to be -han)
  • kysymys = question (all vowels are the front vowel y; compare the standard Estonian cognate küsimus, which does not have vowel harmony)
  • tytär = daughter (all vowels are front vowels; compare the standard Estonian word tütar, which does not have vowel harmony)

Vowel harmony in Standard Estonian:

Standard Estonian no longer has vowel harmony. Front vowels (ä õ ö ü) normally occur only in the first syllable of a word, with a few exceptions.

Vowel harmony in Kihnu dialect of Estonian and some southern dialects:

Front vowelsBack vowelsNeutral
ä e ö üa õ o ui

Kihnu examples:
  • iä = ice; iässe = into the ice (the presence of front vowels in the word iä requires the suffix to be -se)
  • suõ = swamp; suõsõ = into the swamp (the presence of back vowels in the word suõ requires the suffix to be -sõ)
  • küsümüs = question (all vowels are the front vowel ü; compare the standard Estonian cognate küsimus, which does not have vowel harmony)
  • tüdär = daughter (all vowels are front vowels; compare the standard Estonian word tütar, which does not have vowel harmony)

:arrow: for comparison
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-09-20, 0:00

Animals and birds in Estonian

loom = animal
sipelgas = ant
karu = bear
kobras = beaver
mesilane = bee
mardikas = beetle
lind = bird
putukas = bug
liblikas = butterfly
kass = cat
kana = chicken
lehm = cow
vares = crow
kägu = cuckoo
hirv = deer
koer = dog
part = duck
kotkas = eagle
põder = elk, moose
kala = fish
kärbes = fly
parm = horsefly
rebane = fox
konn = frog
kits = goat
rohutirts = grasshopper
hani = goose
lagle = black goose
kull = hawk
siil = hedgehog
hobune = horse
šaakal = jackal
kassipoeg = kitten
lepatriinu = ladybug
lõoke = lark
lõvi = lion
sisalik = lizard
imetaja = mammal
ahv = monkey
sääsk = mosquito
hiir = mouse
jaanalind = ostrich
öökull = owl
siga = pig
tuvi = pigeon, dove
küülik = rabbit
jänes = hare, jackrabbit
roomaja = reptile
kukk = rooster
kajakas = seagull
lammas = sheep
madu = snake
laululind = songbird
varblane = sparrow
ämblik = spider
orav = squirrel
kuldnukk = starling
kurg = stork
pääsuke = swallow
luik = swan
kilpkonn = turtle
herilane = wasp
hunt = wolf
uss = worm

:arrow: for comparison
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2019-10-13, 3:02

Animals and birds in Finnish

eläin = animal
muurahainen = ant
karhu = bear
majava = beaver
mehiläinen = bee
kimalainen = bumblebee
kovakuoriainen = beetle
lintu = bird
hyönteinen = bug
perhonen = butterfly
kissa = cat
kana = chicken
lehmä = cow
varis = crow
käki = cuckoo
hirvi = elk, moose
peura = deer
poro = reindeer
koira = dog
sorsa = wild duck
ankka = domestic duck
kotka = eagle
kala = fish
kärpänen = fly
paarma = horsefly
kettu, repo (archaic) = fox
sammakko = frog
vuohi = goat
heinäsirkka = grasshopper
hanhi = goose
haukka = hawk
siili = hedgehog
hevonen = horse
leppäkerttu = ladybug
kiuru = lark
leijona = lion
sisilisko = lizard
nisäkäs = mammal
apina = monkey
sääski, hyttynen = mosquito
hiiri = mouse
strutsi = ostrich
pöllö = owl
sika = pig
kyyhkynen, kyyhky = pigeon, dove
jänis = mountain hare
rusakko = European hare
kani, kaniini = European rabbit
matelija = reptile
kukko = rooster
lokki = seagull
kajava = kittewake
lammas = sheep
käärme = snake
laululintu = songbird
varpunen = sparrow
hämähäkki = spider
orava = squirrel
kottarainen = starling
kurki = stork
pääsky, pääskynen = swallow
joutsen = swan
kilpikonna = turtle
ampiainen = wasp
susi = wolf
mato = worm

:arrow: for comparison
Last edited by Linguaphile on 2019-10-13, 15:31, edited 1 time in total.
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Naava » 2019-10-13, 13:40

Linguaphile wrote:Animals and birds in Finnish

A few comments:

kuoriainen = beetle
> kovakuoriainen

hirvi = deer, moose
> hirvi = elk, moose

peura = reindeer
> peura = deer
> poro = reindeer

ankka = duck
> note that Finnish has two words for duck: all the wild ducks are called 'sorsa' and the domesticated duck is called 'ankka'.
Sorsat is also a much larger group of bird species, Anatidae.

kettu, repo = fox
> just a note that repo is archaic and rarely used; it lives in the fairytale name Kettu Repolainen and in revontulet, 'Northern lights' (lit. fox's fires). Sometimes people can use the fairytale name and say that they saw kettu repolainen or repolainen in the forest, but I don't think anyone would use repo alone.

FYI: originally, repo meant 'fox' and kettu referred to its fur. The name probably changed because people believed foxes are especially hard to catch, and saying its name would alert it of the hunters' presence or call it to attack your sheep, chicken, etc. It's also possible that when people said they're "hunting the furs" (= pyytää kettuja), some interpreted it as "hunting the animal".
FYI2: kettu has also had the meaning 'thin skin', 'skin' (on surface of liquids), 'film' (a thin layer of something) in Eastern dialects. Here's a map!
FYI3: the "same" word in Western dialects was kesi. You can find this word in the names for different layers of skin, eg. marraskesi, 'stratum corneum'. If we had adopted the Eastern word instead, we would have a layer called marraskettu, which could also be translated as dead fox. Or death omen fox, whichever you prefer! Source for all of the above: Kielikello.

sääski, hyttynen = mosquito
> Standard Finnish:
    sääsket = Nematocera, a group of flying insects such as mosquitoes, crane flies, gnats, and many more.
    hyttynen = mosquito
> Spoken Finnish:
    sääski, hyttynen = mosquito

küülik = rabbit
kani, kaniini = hare, jackrabbit
>
jänikset = name for the groups Leporidae (hares + rabbits) and Lepus (hares)
jänis, metsäjänis = Mountain hare (in summer), (in winter)
(villi)kani, (villi)kaniini = European rabbit
rusakko = European hare

('jackrabbit' is translated as 'jänis' but we don't really have a name for it because we don't have jackrabbits in Finland)

roomaja = reptile
> matelija

lokki, kajava = seagull
> lokki = seagull
> kajava = kittiwake

pääsky = swallow
> pääsky, pääskynen

+
I think we could also add kimalainen, 'bumblebee', since we already have 'wasp' and 'bee'.

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Re: Basic words and grammar in Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian

Postby Linguaphile » 2022-03-13, 15:50

Tools and materials in Estonian

ader = plough
vikat = scythe
sirp = sickle
äke = harrow
labidas = shovel, spade
kõblas = hoe
kirves = axe
peitel = chisel
naaskel = awl
nuga = knife
mõõk = sword
oda = spear
nool = arrow
vibu = bow
nui = club
vasar = hammer
käi = grinding wheel
veskikivi = grindstone
veski = mill
lõõts = bellows
ahi= oven
pada = pot
katel = kettle
uhmer = mortar
uhmrinui = pestle
sõel = sieve
ratas = wheel
kedervars = spindle
vokk = spinning wheel
kangasteljed = loom
nõel = needle
nael = nail
raud = iron
vask = copper
hõbe = silver
kuld = gold
tina = tin
teras = steel

:arrow: for comparison
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri


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