From the Northeast Corner

Finglish Dialect in “The American Language”

-Eastman

This article will probably lift the eyebrows of some of our dilettante and ultra-Finnish friends; but, if we are to “stir the hornet”s nest,” let us approach the controversy with reason. It is not my purpose to condone nor disprove any particular system or scheme for formulating that desirable universal language in phonetic (foneettinen) English, or simplified American dialects which might well be adapted by American Finns.

Suomi-Finns are adapting or borrowing words of common international usage into the ancient Finnish vocabulary. Therefore, it may be logical for Finns in America to borrow American words, and especially to adapt their usage phonetically (foneettisesti) by modifying them with varied suffixes, according to the general practice outlined in Finnish grammar. Adapting their instinctive phonetic word-building and their knowledge of adding suffixes or word endings to American wordage, should not be too difficult for the average Finn.

It is assumed by some, that Finnish suffixes had been introduced thousands of years ago in the pre-historic ancient civilizations, and the basic Finnish language has persisted throughout the ages.

There are an estimated half a million, more or less, persons of Finnish origin, including 2nd and 3rd generations, in America, and we probably assume that about one-half of them understand or speak Finnish, even as a dialect. The other half is likely to eventually lose Finnish identity. It would of course be a great achievement for posterity, should it be possible to retain the younger generations within the Finnish environment. The American born Finns could perhaps become more interested if instilled by our fomenting and encouraging the use of the American-Finnish dialect language. Call it “Finglish,” if preferable, as suggested by the late Professor Nisonen of Suomi College, Hancock, Michigan.

The American language has evolved through many stages of “fonetic” simplification; by Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, Dr. Godfrey Dewey, H.L. Mencken, and many other great scholars of “fonetik filology.” Andrew Carnegie endowed $300,000 and George Bernard Shaw willed his fortune and future incomes from royalties, etc., for the study, promotion, and development of a common phonetic simplified language.

It is understood that the ancient Finnish language is basically and absolutely a phonetic language, even more than Spanish. Will our scholars of language (philology) eventually discover the useful universal tongue from the modification of Finnish – Spanish – English combination of languages?

In 1936, the 4th edition of about 800 pages The American Language compiled and written by H.L. Mencken, was published by Alfred A. Knopf. This great  compendium of immense research in the American language includes an Appendix Section “Non-English Dialects in America,” wherein H.L. Mencken has included a treatise or brief resume of the Finnish American dialect or “Finglish.”

For assistance in presenting the “Finglish” article, Mr. Mencken directs credit to Professor Nisonen and Finnish newspaper editors John. E. Rantamäki, Reino W. Suojanen and Ivar Vapaa. Editor Suojanen was formerly editor of New Yorkin Uutiset in the early twenties.

We quote the following extract from the American Finnish dialect article in The American Language:

Many Finns who don”t actually mix English words into their Finnish speech use forms that are idiomatically more English than Finnish. For example, consider the sentence “Take care of the boy.” In correct Finnish, the verb is “pidä,” but most American Finns use “ota,” which is a literal translation of “take.”

Finnish belongs to the Finno-Ugrian group of languages along with Hungarian, Lapp, Estonian, and a number of minor dialects. It has fifteen cases, and all of them save the nominative are indicated by adding postpositions to the root. The root itself must always end in a vowel-ending attached to it. Thus “house” in the nominative becomes “haussi,” “from the house” (elative) is “haussista,” and “into a house (translative) is “haussiksi.” Proper names are subjected to the same inflections. Thus, “to Kenton” is “Kentoniin,” and “from Kenton” is “Kentonista.” The Finnish papers in the United States are full of such curious forms as “Ann Arborissa,” “Kalamazoon,” and “New York Mills’ista.” Here is the paradigm of “haussi” (house), which has generally displaced the correct Finnish “talo.”

Under the Influence of English there is some decay of these case endings, especially in the genitive and the accusative. Even perfectly good Finnish words tend to lose some of their inflection. Here, for example, the way “kirja” (book) changes for person, in the genitive case, in Finnish and Finglish:

It will be noted that in Finglish the noun remains invariable: the pronoun alone is felt to be sufficient indicator of person, as it is in English. The conjugation of the verb is very complicated, involving a great many different endings. Here for example, is the conjugation, in the indicative mood, of the loan-verb “kliinaan” (to clean), following precisely of the proper Finnish verb, “puhdistan:”

Nouns generally constitute the majority of English and American loan-words in Finglish. Finnish has a word of its own for “bootlegger,” to wit, “trokari,” but the Finns in the United States prefer “puutlekkeri.” Similarly, they prefer “pisnes” (business) to the correct “liiketoiminta,” “kaara” (car) to “caunu,” “Paarti (party) to “kekkeri,” and “saitvookki” (sidewalk) to “jalkakäytävä.” There is a sentence, often heart, which contains only Finglish words, viz: “Pussaa peipipoki kitsistä petiruumaan (Push the baby-buggy from the kitchen into the bedroom). In Finish “pussaa” is a slang term for kiss. Here are some other loan-nouns, with the Finnish equivalent:

Most Finnish words end in vowels, so it is usual for the Finnish-Americans to add a vowel to every loan word which lacks ones. No Finnish word ever begins with two consonants, so loan-words which show them are frequently changed especially by the more recent immigrants. Thus “steak” becomes either “steeki” or “teeki,” “truck” is either “troki” or “roki,” “stump” is either “stumppi” or “tumppi,” and “street” may be “striitti,” “triiti” or “riiti.” The differences in sound between the English b and d and the Finnish p and t, respectively are very slight, so “bed” becomes “peti.”

The hardest English sound for Finns is that of th (as in thing), but its difficulties compared to those presented by the English articles and prepositions, which have no equivalents in Finnish. The newcomer tends to use them when they are not called for, and to omit them when they are. Adjectives are taken into English less often than nouns, but a few have been borrowed for daily use, e.g. “pisi” (busy) and “smartti” (smart). The correct Finnish equivalents are “touhukas” (or “kiire”) and “älykäs,” respectively. Among the loan-verbs in everyday use are “runnata” (to run, in a political sense), “pläänätä” (to plan), “skiimata” (to scheme), “titsata” (to teach), and “juusata” (to use).

(This booklet on Finglish, which bears no date, was found tucked into a drawer along with a clipping from the New Yorkin Uutiset, dated 1970, at the Finnish-American Village in Lake Worth, FL.)