7 Finnish Words You Can't Translate!
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- čas přidán 19. 07. 2024
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In this video I will go over a handful of Finnish words that don't have direct English language translations. Let me know in the comments if your language has good translations for any of these words, since I'm sure it would be helpful for other language learners!
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▫️ c h a p t e r s ▫️
0:00 Intro
0:19 ad italki
2:21 jaksaa
4:10 löyly
5:07 sisu
6:23 tarjeta
7:23 reipas
9:10 ruska
9:58 pääkallokeli
10:55 outro
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thank you for watching!
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#italki #learnfinnish #opisuomea
This video is sponsored by @Italkilanguage
Estonian also has the exact same meaning words.. Not sure about every word you gave, but some are here:
Estonian/Finnish
Jaksa - Jaksaa
Leil - Löyly
Reibas - Reipas
Kiilasjää (bald ice) - Pääkallokeli
These are super fun. I really like the last one. Like, the implication that it's weather where you can hit your head lol.
You described it well xD
I really love the word "jaksaa". Although it is difficult to translate in many languages, it can almost be perfectly translated in Swedish as "orka".
Nice that Swedish has a very close word!
Det ÄR det uttrycket. Vi har faktiskt ett slanguttryck också. Palla
Yes. "orka" is a pretty exact translation. In English, I guess a lot of the time it is the synonym "ha lust" (feel like)
My first language is Swedish so even tho I speak finnish I never realised that there might be languages that dont have it even english I have been speaking english since I was like 10 and somehow I never realised
@@Censeo I wouldnt say "ha lust" is the same orka can also mean that you are just tired and that is why you dont "orka" while ha lust is just you dont feel like it
Muutama lisää:
- Kalsarikännit (tästä on jo oma emojikin)
- Akantappokone (moottoripyörän sivuvaunu)
- Ukkonen (Ukko [jumala] taivaalla heittää salamoita)
- Ääkköset (Ä, Ö ja Å)
A good list! Kiitos lisäyksistä!
In a sports competition, you can hear the crowd cheering on even the last finisher with shouts of 'jaksaa jaksaa', repeating the word jaksaa.
One Finnish word that most often causes me problems when translating is "maatiaiskissa" because people repeatedly ask what breed my cat is. The "cat" part of the word is easy to translate, but even though "maatiainen" usually means "landrace", in this context it has a different meaning and many Finnish cat books and associations use the explanation "ancient breed" or "free breed" or "common cat" because it is a type of cat whose reproduction has traditionally not been controlled and regulated on purpose, and its lineages are not clear, unlike in purebred cats. It is also not a mixed breed, which excludes the use of that term, and it is also not a European Shorthair, even though some of them may look externally similar. According to Kissojen Suomi and Maatiainen ry, the Finnish "maatiaiskussa" is genetically more related to the stray cats of Turkey and the Aegean region, which in a way explains the possible origin of Finnish cats and how it got here (however, there is also another "maatiaiskissa" type that is related to the Norwegian forest cat and and is also externally similar with its longer hair). I myself use the terms "non-bred" or "unbred" cat, but even those are not really satisfactory enough equivalents and solve the problem. 😅
At least Americans use domestic shorthair or domestic longhair for the same purpose. As in no special breed of cat, just a regular house cat. Tabby or tortoise etc is referring to a more specific hair pattern.
Barn cat.
We just say [dog type] landrace. Like Central Asian Shepherd landrace, collie landrace, Nihon Ken landrace, tazi landrace etc in English.
In Russian they use "aboriginal" to describe dogs which are unregistered but maintain a consistent type because of natural selection and human pressure. So, the free-roaming hunting laikas in Lake Baikal region would be considered "aboriginal" because commercial hunters still rely on unregistered hunting dogs to make an income from squirrel and marten pelts. And "village dogs" sometimes are used to describe free-breeding pets which are not useful for any task.
Probably preferable to use "Indigenous" in English.
If it were a dog it would simply be called a rural mixed breed.
The distiction between "feral" and "wild" animals is in Finnish "villiintynyt" and "villi-" which I think convey the idea quite well. Some maatiaiskissat can fall in a category between feral and domesticated cats.
Jaksaa sounds like it would fit in with spoon theory. "I don't have the spoons for that." (It's usually in the context of chronic illness and energy rationing.)
Cool coincidence: Sanskrit word sisu with palatal sibilants ( शिशु , shishu ) means e.g. 'child', but etymologically, the verb it's derived from means 'to be strong': Etymology
From Proto-Indo-Aryan *śíśHuṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćíćHuš, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱiḱh₁-ú-s, a derivative of *ḱewh₁- (“to swell, to be strong”). Compare also शाव (śāva), with the same meaning and origin; perhaps the sense of "strength" later changed to mean "growth", and even later to mean the "young" (since they continue to grow to maturity)
You might want to look up Ior Bock and his mystical temple of Lemminkäinen, a tragic protagonist in the mythos of Kalevala.
He was quite an eccentric to say the least but he does point out interesting coincidences between Sanskrit and Finno-Ugric language in his theories.
Since Finnish has only recently, like 1500y recently, been affected by the Indo-European languages some have proposed a more direct linguistic link between the shamanistic proto-Aryans of the Altai region and us modern Finno-Ugrics.
I found a mug which tried to defined sisu, the following way: "Extraordinary determination, courage, and resoluteness in the face of extreme adversity. An action mindset which enables individuals to see beyond their present limitations and into what might be. Taking action against the odds and reaching beyond observed capacities." My own personal example of sisu is my mother. Even after enduring 9 late term miscarriages, and have been told she should stop, she kept trying to have a child. This resulted in my birth on the 10th try.
A great story!
Your mother TRULY HAS SISU! 🫡❤
Excellent video! This has helped me clear up some confusion about taking out the trash - both with the ruska vs roska - no wonder my wife always looks at me funny when I get the pronunciation incorrect when taking out the trash - thanks you have the best videos on Finnish language.
In swedish there is a word for jaksaa, "orkar".
A great abstract or academic Finnish word with no true match in English is "kokonaisuus". It means something like an aggregate of things within a subject matter context. It directly translates to "a whole", or "an entirety" but such expression is never or rarely used in English for the same semantic role, at least in my experience.
How about arki/arkinen? So common but kinda hard to translate efficiently.
Mundane
Interesting video. A lot of these are so common words in finnish that I never realized that they had no translation in english.
A couple of words I haven't found direct translation for are:
Pohjola
Värjöitellä
Myötähäpeä
Kehtaaminen
Neuvola
Helppoheikki
Kylähullu
Hankikanto
Suoraselkäisyys
So many new words to add to my vocabulary! I'm glad Sisu made it to the list because it is also one of my favorite ones 👀 kiitos Kat! ✨
Reipas is a fun word! It's a good word to use on children whenever they are visiting the doctor or dentists, "Be reipas!" or "You were really reipas, good job!" meaning they did well and survived bravely. In Winnie the Pooh, Christoper Robin's name in the Finnish translations is Risto(common first name) Reipas, and for a while I thought Reipas in english is Robin 😄Kiva video!
Löyly is the old Sauna spirit, meaning the steam is the henki that rises up to bless you after having received a water offering. In the winter when it´s cold and you can see breath of a person's breath, that's that persons henki too etc. Heitä Löyly is thus a shortened form of something like heitä vettä löylylle.
Another anecdote about the word "reipas", the character Christopher Robin from Winnie-the-Pooh is called Risto Reipas in Finnish translations (Risto being a somewhat common Finnish male first name), probably because he had these attributes.
Reipas kävely.
Ruskaretki is a wonderful activity to do in autumn!
In my language (Latvian) we definitely have our own löyly "gars" (and even a song about it). Unfortunately, we also have slippery roads in winter, so pääkallokeli has its counterpart "atkala".
Pääkallokeliin liittyen tuli mieleen sanonta "Liisan liukkaat ja Kaisan kaljamat" (nimet liittyvät nimipäiviin, päivämäärät).
Kaljama on hieno sana, varsinkin jos ulkomaalainen yrittää tajuta sitä (beer 😉). Itse käsitän kaljaman jääksi, joka muodostuu, kun lumi tiivistyy tiellä paksuksi kerrokseksi (kävellään, ajetaan autolla jne.), jonka jälkeen tulee lämmin päivä ja se muuttuu paksuksi ja hieman epätasaiseksi jääksi. Silloin on pääkallokeli, luita murtuu.
Hi there, I’m a Finn who has lived in Sydney for many years and learned the English language in school after we arrived here.At the end of your vlog you said “ you could of “put in more words to explain their meanings to us, your viewers.Well, the correct words are actually “could have” which when shortened is spelled could’ve. Many lazy English speakers also say “ could of which is grammatically wrong and just a lazy and incorrect way to say it. I guess I’m sounding like I’m nitpicking a bit,however I made sure that when I was learning I had some understanding of the ways Australians speak English , and “ could of” came up quite often. Welcome to Australian English.( Much the same as English is spoken in England).I really Do enjoy your vlogs so hopefully you don’t think I’m ripping into you.
Whoops, my bad!
Sanalle osata tai osaaminen ei löydy suoraa vastinetta.
in estonia we have also that "JAKSA" word, which means ability, or capacity of power and you no longer have physical capacity, i.e. you are suffering from fatigue or you want to do someting more. Maybe BOTHERED has littlebit some feelings but jeeh not same word.
Jaksaa & tarjeta sounds more like super ability
Sisu & reipas sounds more like a personal trait to me.
Like sisu & reipas are his personal trait which makes him worthy and jaksaa & tarjeta are like his super ability which gives him power. And of course pääkallokeli is his weakness
Very nice, thank you. You didn't mention....they even made a movie...."Sisu". I have watched it several times. Thanks again. Kiitos
Ah, I've actually never seen that film so slipped from my memory! Thanks for bringing it up!
@@KatChatsFinnish Heads up....lots of blood and guts...body parts flying...so if you think you will watch it I hope you are bit squeamish..🤢
Also I forgot your video of the inspirational saying for the book. Where you give a inspirational saying about Sisu, Even though it was I think for women I did keep a copy so I can read it on those occasions. Thanks again.
I meant to say I hope you are "not" squeamish.🙃
@@garypeterson2079 There also used to be a line of Finnish built trucks called SISU. Am not sure if they are still being produced.
Sometimes I'm a bit disturbed by the native Finnish speakers' difficulty to make a difference between 'sää' and 'keli'. (This is mainly because my mind is somewhat polluted with meteorological definitions 😄) 'Sää' means weather and 'keli' actually means the conditions on the ground, especially those affecting the transportation, like the road surface condition (ajokeli, väglag in Swedish) or, back in the days, general possibility to use a sleigh in winter (rekikeli). Often the word 'keli' is used when talking about 'sää' (but never the other way round).
Exactly. "Sää" is the atmospheric phenomena, "keli" is the the set of conditions and situations it presents for us humans.
Moi..your classes are very nice …Can you do one class about to make negative sentences….please …it is very help full to us
What about vessahätä? Pissa- and kakkahätä? Those are always fun to explain to people. We have it in swedish too. Bajs- and kissnöd.
I have heard US people use "autumn colours" as ruska 🙂
jaksaa jaksaa jaksaa jaksaa jaksaa jaksaa jaksaa jaksaa ❤
Keli is more about condition on the road for traffic or walking. Sää or säätila is weather. Very different things. It migjt be a great weather bright blue sky but the road might be very slippery, thus keli might be bad but sää good.😊
What a fun lesson! Happy fourth of July 🇺🇲
This got me thinking of some more unique but useful and versatile words and expressions. These are basically in the same category but still very different. I hadn't even realized how many words we have for something that English lacks in. No wonder a Finn can feel lost for words in English since we have so many to choose from. Normally I don't think in FInnish first and then translate it to English but when I do due to complexity or subtlety, etc. it's usually because I'm looking for words like these.
"Viitsiä", a tough one to decipher precisely but close to "jaksaa", maybe "to mind" as in "would you mind?" comes close which is actually one word that we don't quite have but is really useful (just like "please"). More about willingness than energy, though. An idiom from an old TV skit that kids still learn "viitsisitsäetsäviitsis ...?" is one of those gatekeepers or goal posts to fluent spoken Finnish that should be in a citizenship application questionnaire. Don't get it? Come back when you do, ole hyvä.
"Kehdata", one that can have quite different meanings in different dialects as well as contexts. It's mainly used in the sense of "not embarrassed to" or "have the audacity" or "be bold enough". On the other hand my grandma from Kymenlaakso used it in many more meanings with very subtle nuances so you basically have to know the person and the context to always understand it's meaning. "Enhän mie kehtaa jtkn" when she meant she didn't want to do something but "kehtaisitko sie ojentaa...?" simply meant "could you pass me the...?".
"Tohtia" is another variant with a similar function and meaning. Every native most likely still understands "vieläköhän sitä tohtis ottaa yhdet?" although It's a bit archaic. I for one use it now and then especially when the answer is affirmative as in the example..;) That wasn't the case originally but nowadays when and if used by anyone under 80y it's usually in a light-hearted and a bit comical sense.
"Ehtiä". Basically "make it on time to" or "have time for", etc. but can also have connotations of willingness or eagerness.
"Raaskia". Another word that has no direct translation and left me more baffled the more I thought about it. Not quite "afford to" as having enough money but more unwillingness to spend on or waste something. How would people here translate the following: "en raaskinut heittää vanhoja sukkia pois, vaikka niissä oli reikiä" and "en raaskinut ostaa uusia sukkia, vaikka vanhoissa oli reikiä"?
These just keep popping up...
"Joutaa"? What do "ehtiä" and "joutaa" have in common and where/how do they differ? "Joudatko avuksi?" but also "joutaa kaatopaikalle." The prefix "jouto-" which is never used on it's own carries the meanings "useless", "sedentary" and "idle" among others . It's used for both people and objects. "Joutomies" is an unemployed and useless man, an "idle man", "joutomaa" is land that's not cultivated or built on especially in and around otherwise utilized areas, "waste land". "Joutokäynti" is the idle of an engine although it can also be "tyhjäkäynti" which means literally "empty running/going/(horse's)gait". "Käynti" however also means "a visit" or "an appointment" as in legal or medical affairs and such. My mother often asks "joudatko milloin taas käymään?" which is pretty logical since it's just means "when are you idle enough to come visit again?" "Jonninjoutava" also takes some deep level skills to decrypt.
"Kelvata"? "Joutua" is even worse.
"Riittää" and the derived adjectives "riittävä" which pretty much means "sufficient" and "riittoisa" which means something that lasts a long time and is highly dilutable, economical and extendable as in good detergents, broth/stock or strong spirits, etc. However "suffice" isn't very often interchangable with "riittää" as e.g. in "nyt riittää!", "that's enough!"
Typötyhjä, ypöyksin, täpötäysi, putipuhdas? I just love our language; so weird and complex yet so versatile, flexible and nuanced.
in swedish we have "jag orkar inte" for "I dont have the energy to" and I am so excited for finnish to have this type of saying also, because to say that long phrase in english is just tiring and doesnt reeeally convey the correct meaning of "jag orkar inte"
see pole sama, pigem on tahte küsimus varjatud viisil, et mitte öelda ma ei suuda enam, sest tüdimus on peal.
it's not the same, rather it's a matter of will in a hidden way, not to say I can't anymore because there's no energy level.
Sounds like reipas = upbeat
Not neccessarily. You could be reipas even if you are not bursting with joy.
A child might be reipas if he/she does what they are supposed to, without delaying or having a tantrum. But reipas is more than just obediant, reipas might also have initiative to do helpful things on their own volition. Reipas also don't do things lacklusterly.
The word reipas has another meaning also, it means much or a lot, or fast, or with decent power. For example if food has a lot of salt, one tasting it might say "onpas tässä reippaasti suolaa". If someone is riding a horse quite fast, they migh say "mennään reipasta ravia". Or if one is explaining how to row a boat, they might say "soutaessa tulee tehdä reippaita vetoja". The meaning is always a superlative of the average usage, but never to an extreme.
The two meanings of reipas have some overlap there. All the adjectives are done as the reipas person might do them. And it implicate that reipas is a person who does things well, so well that they could be an example to their peers.
Jaksaa = feel like (doing sth)
Jaksaa: to carry on, to keep going, to take it
Pääkallokeli: Black ice, iced roads
Here's one more word: "suhdanne".
Kiitti sinulle,sinä olet kaunista ja fiksu myôs...
1:40 Panadol, Burana ja lepää kotona pari päivää.
Kiitos 🌸🌺🌷
Osata on myös vaikea kääntää. Can ei kata sitä, to be able to ei riitä, know-how:kin jää vajaaksi. Ehkä sen voisi ottaa seuraavaan jaksoon.
awesome❤
Короче, я увидел эту тяночку в shorts у VirginiaBeowulf и он сделал вставку с ней где она говорит что-то на финском. Сначала я попробовал найти её через принтскрин и гугл\яндекс картинки и ничего не получилось. Потом я решил вбить на слух то что она говорила в его ролике лол и вот что я вбил "aito suomalainen mekko uinte kokemos" . aito suomalainen это понятно. а что значит "unite"? или что это за слово там было сказано? кокемos это вроде костюм. В общем я нашёл её ема я такой молодец я так рад, подписался.
А вот ещё одна история моих находок в интернете, недавно я не мог найти одно видео там про квадробинг и подумал что смогу найти его через гугл картинки если смогу сделать коллаж образа который мне запомнился и я собрал кадр по памяти из видео из стоковых изображений и нашёл это видео. Наверное в будущем так и будет работать поиск мы просто будем думать о чём то и поисковик будет визуализировать наши мысленные образы.
kiitos Katja.)))
This was a great lesson. I'm curious why you pronounce "sauna" that way.
When I speak English I say it like that, because for me it feels weird to pronounce it in a Finnish accent when using English. Idk it's just my habit I guess!
@@KatChatsFinnish
Some decades ago, before you were born, I travelled in the USA and other places on business trips and visited some saunas, or what they called saunas.
I learned that not all deserve to be called Sauna ( with the Finnish pronunciation). I adopted the convention to use the English speakers pronunciation of those to make a clear and simple difference to separate those fairly different traditions from each other.
Hello kat..correct me if im wrong is it pajon kipea wrong grammar?because my teacher told me instead using paljon you have to used todella or tosi is ti correct?
Paljon kipeä sounds really strange. It's understandable, so the message will be understood.
Hyvin kipeä
Oikein kipeä
Todella kipeä
those expressions are common.
Very nice
Kiitos!
Piipahtaa
I don't see your page on italki. Can you share direct link to your profile? I registered using your referral link.
Here it is! Thank you for signing up! www.italki.com/en/teacher/11912454
It probably doesn't show up since all my empty slots are for August which is a month away xD
I know one more finnish word which does not exist in any other language: Kalsarikännit 😜
How about "kesäloma pölly" ?
What about ‘loiva’..
is there any free finnish grammar e-book?
I'm not aware of any off the top of my head, maybe someone else reading this comment might know?
You are Number 1
Wow, you're going deep with these...
If you ever find yourself having to deal with Finnish kids you're going to discover the other half of the meaning and context of "jaksaa", the other being exactly to endure or to have the energy and will power for sth, which was very well presented here. The constantly heard whining of "mä en jaksa" simply means "I really, really don't want to". Usually after having had enough of it parents send the kid to bed early that night so that he/she would "jaksaa" better the next day.
The word also has a very nuanced use carrying a conditional tone between people. When asking someone out or to come along, especially in a romantic sense when you're most insecure, by asking "jaksatko?" or even more conditionally "jaksaisitko?" instead of "haluatko?" or "haluaisitko?" you leave the other person the option to decline without having to say "I don't want to" as well as being yourself able to rationalize being turned down by this mysterious lack of "jaksaminen", not the lack of will, desire, interest or attraction.
Jaksaa = stick with it
Löyly = impossible
Sisu = impossible
Tarjeta = impossible
Reipas = brisk (sometimes keen if you're British)
Ruska = impossible
Pääkallokeli = even keli is impossible
Yes, in certain meaning and context "jaksaa" is "to stick with it", but surely not in all the cases. That translation is OK, if the action is akready happening and there is discussion about continuing it even there is some resistance.
"Jaksaa" can also be a positive evaluation of the situation before it has happened or started. "Mä jaksan nostaa sen kyllä." = "I do have the energy to lift it." Or it can be used in a question and related to willingness: "Jaksasiks sä käydä kaupassa?" = "Could you go and do the groceries?"
Did you actually say sanna instead of sauna?? I’m going to cry!😢 don’t give us Americans more reason to keep mispronouncing it 😅
Lol, yes. Pronouncing sauna correctly is why I married my husband, lol.
Hilavitkutin
😊
😃😃
Tarjeta => card in spanish
Mine puhu hoone soomi. Mine synty villimieheranta, lähellä ryssäraja. Miten mine oppi puhu parempi soome? Katonko mine kotikatu vai saletut elemet? Puhuko ne hyve soome? Vai puhuke ne katu kiele? Mite sä sano? Helsinki slanni?
Kiva, että jaksat ja haluat opiskella.
Katso sitä, mikä kiinnostaa ja mistä nautit.😊
Howdy.
Sisu = stamina.
Reipas = brisk, brave.
Pääkallokeli = skull driving weather.
Regards.
No.
You could have a lot of stamina without having much sisu. And a person might have a lot of sisu without much of stamina. Both could get the job done though. For example if two men are gigging holes, one with a lot of stamina could do it with stamina alone, but the one with little stamina could continue even after their stamina has runned out, just using sisu to continue way after he should have collapsed from exhausting. Sisu is doing things with the sheer force of will. Stamina is also a physical atribute, sisu is a mental one, or perhaps a strenght of the spirit.
Reipas is not brisk, since brisk could be translated to kipakka, and brave could be translated to urhea.
Pääkallokeli doesn't refer to a driving weather (even though in pääkallokeli that is also bad). The main meaning is that accidents happen easily with that weather and people get hurt or die because of it.
@@Tyrisalthan Howdy.
But of course. You are 101% correct.
Perhaps sisu may be persistance or perceverance.
And pääkallokeli may be skull outdoors conditions.
Regards.