Re: Bitter 3/3
anonymous
November 22 2010, 03:23:02 UTC
I'm sorry I'm being a nitpick but we don't actually use "kyllä" like that... xD; It just... sounds really, really weird. Something like "jooko?" or "käykö?"/"sopiiko?" would be better. (Or just "okei?" x) which obviously just means "okay?") "Joo" is a colloquial word for "yes" (pronounced kinda like "yo") and "ko" is a suffix that makes it a question.
Actually, it's not too different from Estonian (they have the German/Scandinavian loanword "jaa" for "yes"). The difference is that they allow the use of "jaa" in standard language, while standard Finnish doesn't allow "joo" (not yet at least, it might change sometime in the future).
"Kyllä" is a difficult word to explain... it's not quite the same as "yes" but Finnish doesn't actually have a proper word for "yes" other than the colloquial "joo"/"juu"/"jep". The standard language doesn't have a simple word for "yes" so people tend to tell foreigners that "kyllä" means "yes", even though "kyllä" is more like "truly" or "really" or "certainly". As in "Finnish really is a difficult language." ("Suomi on kyllä vaikea kieli.") xD You can use it as "yes" when you're asked a clear "yes or no" question but even then you rarely hear natives use it like that unless they're trying to sound formal. I only use it in the "truly" meaning and when I say "yes, please" = "kyllä, kiitos".
Actually, a better word for "yes" in standard Finnish would be "niin". It's a bit difficult to translate into English but it actually corresponds pretty much exactly the Japanese "sou (desu)". It can even be used as a question in a very similar way: "niinkö?" - "sou (desu) ka?", meaning "is that so?" It literally means "in that way" and I guess the most accurate translation would be "that is so".
The Finnish word for "no" is a bit of a tricky one too... okay maybe I won't get into that. ;;;
.... Sorry. When I get excited, I just won't shut up...
Re: Bitter 3/3
anonymous
November 22 2010, 06:41:20 UTC
... OP here will keep that in mind for the future. xD;;; I naturally ran to google and google translator and such because I didn't want to bother my Finnish friend just to ask her what 'yes' is. But thank you.
Re: Bitter 3/3
anonymous
November 24 2010, 01:03:27 UTC
Heh. xD; It's alright... Foreign languages are tricky like that, you never know what sort of specialties they have. Btw, if you ask your Finnish friend, tell her the whole sentence first so she'll know what is the best word for that specific situation.
Actually, it's not too different from Estonian (they have the German/Scandinavian loanword "jaa" for "yes"). The difference is that they allow the use of "jaa" in standard language, while standard Finnish doesn't allow "joo" (not yet at least, it might change sometime in the future).
"Kyllä" is a difficult word to explain... it's not quite the same as "yes" but Finnish doesn't actually have a proper word for "yes" other than the colloquial "joo"/"juu"/"jep". The standard language doesn't have a simple word for "yes" so people tend to tell foreigners that "kyllä" means "yes", even though "kyllä" is more like "truly" or "really" or "certainly". As in "Finnish really is a difficult language." ("Suomi on kyllä vaikea kieli.") xD You can use it as "yes" when you're asked a clear "yes or no" question but even then you rarely hear natives use it like that unless they're trying to sound formal. I only use it in the "truly" meaning and when I say "yes, please" = "kyllä, kiitos".
Actually, a better word for "yes" in standard Finnish would be "niin". It's a bit difficult to translate into English but it actually corresponds pretty much exactly the Japanese "sou (desu)". It can even be used as a question in a very similar way: "niinkö?" - "sou (desu) ka?", meaning "is that so?" It literally means "in that way" and I guess the most accurate translation would be "that is so".
The Finnish word for "no" is a bit of a tricky one too... okay maybe I won't get into that. ;;;
.... Sorry. When I get excited, I just won't shut up...
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OP here will keep that in mind for the future. xD;;;
I naturally ran to google and google translator and such because I didn't want to bother my Finnish friend just to ask her what 'yes' is. But thank you.
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