Finnish

( Geog.) Pertaining or relating to Finland. Fin'nish Language and Literature. The language of Finland forms one of the chief branches of the Uralo-Altaic family, being, with the Esthomic and Lappish collaterals, kindred to the languages of the Urgrians, or Eastern Turks, Osmanli Turks, Samoyedes, and other Tartars, Magyars, Mongols, and Tunguses, whose chief branch are the Mantchoos. All these constitute the so-called Scythic, or Turanian, or Allophylic family. The Finnish comprises a number of dialects, of which the principal are the lower, which is used along the coasts, its Abo variety being that which is used in books; and the upper, which is spoken in the inland regions, divided into the sub-dialects of Ulea and Viborg. It is written in Latin or German characters; but the letters b, c, d, f , g occur only in a few foreign words, and q is obsolete. It is, however, rich in vowel sounds, having no fewer than eight, ä and o standing at the end of the alphabet. It has also many diphthongs, and, according to Rask, it has the most harmonious of tongues. The nouns have fourteen cases, which are expre ed by suffixes or post-positions to the nominative, and plurality is denoted for the nominative by suffixing t , and for the other cases by inserting i before their endings. There are only two declensions, the one for nouns ending in a vowel, the other for those ending in a consonant. The declension of adjectives is e entially the same as that of substantives, while the comparative ends in mbi and the superlative in in . There are no grammatic genders, the sexes being indicated either by distinct words or by epithets. The verbs have only two simple tenses, - the present and the past, the others being periphrastic. Their conjugation is complicated, their voices, moods, and other nice shades of meaning being expre ed by certain syllables inserted between the root and the personal suffixes. There are no separate particles, and all their prepositions are placed at the end of the words to which they are related. From the number of syllables thus brought together, some of the words are of great length (from eight to ten, and sometimes even as many as eighteen syllables); but in this way the most complicated ideas may often be expre ed in one word, which would require several in most other languages. The construction is extremely free, without endangering the clearne of the sense. There can be little doubt, from the character and construction of the language, that this is not only one of the most ancient, but one of the purest of the whole Asiatic-European family, being le mixed with foreign elements than the Hungarian, Turkish, or Mongolian. The literature of Finland is particularly rich in popular songs or runes , which are sung by the runolainen , or songmen, to the sound of the favorite national instrument, the kantele , a species of harp with five wire strings. In 1834, the Finlandic Society of Literature was established at Helsingfors, and has done much to spread a knowledge of, and develop a taste for this language. Its publications have given a great stimulus to the study of the Finnish language; and while the upper cla es still cling to the use of the Swedish, the peasantry welcome with avidity every addition to the limited stock of their printed literature. Newspapers and periodicals in their native tongue now circulate among them, and are eagerly read. A Finnish translation of the New Testament appeared in 1548, and a portion of the Old Testament in 1552; but the whole Bible was not translated into Finnish till 1612. From ancient mythological odes of Finland an epic poem, the famous Kalevala , was constructed by Dr. Löunrot, in 1835. This striking production was imitated by Long fellow, in his Hiawatha . Finn's Point, in New Jersey, a point of Salem co., extending into the Delaware River, about 4 m. above Salem Creek.