Finnish - a simply extraordinary language

            Further evidence that Finland is special comes from its extraordinary language.

Almost all European languages, plus some from Asia, are related to each other, as part of the Indo-European family.   

Finnish is different.  It is part of the Finno-Ugric family, which means it's related only to Estonian, and very distantly to Hungarian.  

The grammar is said to be fiendishly complex for an English speaker, though pronunciation is apparently quite straightforward.  

They love double letters - vowels and consonants - and diacritical marks, which are the marks above letters.   

Look at the sign in the picture:  the place name in the web address at the bottom, Toolo, a district of Helsinki, has the letter "o" three times in five letters, each time with an accent above the "o".   Quite extraordinary! 

Mrs TeaMeister and I speak four languages between us, and have a smattering of a few more.  But even we were lost in deciphering Finnish: it is like being a child again.  

Luckily, many Finns speak English and are unfailingly helpful with visitors.  Plus Finland is bilingual so you see Swedish on the signs too, which gives you some help!

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Taken on: September 1, 2017

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Sets appears in: • Helsinki, Finland, Europe • Baltic tour - by train and boat

Groups appears in: • Suomi • Sign of the Times (All Types of Signs)

Camera: Kodak DX6340 Zoom, f/4.0, 1/180 sec, 8mm (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Kodak DX6340 Zoom
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	0.006 sec (1/180)
Focal Length:	8mm
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
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