About Finland
| General information |
Language
Lines and between the lines
According to the famous satirical citation by German author and playwright, Bertold Brecht, Finns have a convention to stay silent in two languages. Brecht was referring to the notion that although Finland has two official languages (Finnish and Swedish), they are tied to a culture that emphasizes the meaning of words and assumes that talkativeness is associated with unreliability.Finns communicate, of course, but they have a special attitude towards words and speech: words are taken seriously, and people are held to what they say. “Take a man by his word and a bull by its horn,” says the Finnish proverb. A Finn will carefully consider what he says and expect others to do so in return.
People often assume that languages spoken in neighboring countries are similar. They ask questions such as, “Is Finnish like Swedish?” or “Does everyone in Finland speak Russian?” A simple answer to both questions is “No.” Swedish and Russian (as well as English) belong to the Indo-European group of languages. Finnish, on the other hand, is one of the Finno-Ugrian languages. The latter group also includes Hungarian, Estonian, Lapp and several lesser-known languages spoken in Russia.
It is thought that speakers of the Finno-Ugrian languages have been living in the area of present-day Finland since at least 3000 B.C. Today, approximately 23 million people speak the languages of the Finno-Ugrian language family.
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Kalevala, from myth to symbol |
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Finnish for Foreigners – web course |
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Finno-Ugric
societies and institutes |
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The Swedish speaking Finns |
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The Sami language in Finland |
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| Last update 11.6.2007 |
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