MEANING:
Noun: practical joke, trick, prank.
In our example, kuje appears in the nominative plural, kujeet.
EXTRA CREDIT:
Let’s translate the whole headline in reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new movie (Sabotage), ”Vanhan koiran uudet kujeet,” or ”An old dog’s new tricks.”
Related words to kuje:
MEANING:
Noun: revolution.
DERIVED FROM:
Vallankumous comes from vallan (from the genitive of the noun valta, which means ”power,” ”might” or ”authority” as well as ”country” or ”state” in compound nouns, i.e. Yhdysvallat = United States) + kumous (from the verb kumota which means ”to turn over,” ”undo” or ”overthrow.)
Vallankumous literally means ”overthrowal of power”.
MEANING:
Noun: loneliness, solitude.
DERIVED FROM:
Yksinäisyys comes from yksinäinen (”lonely” or ”solitary”) + -yys (a suffix used to create nouns from adjectives.)
EXTRA CREDIT:
Let’s translate the whole newspaper story name, Yksinäisyys on yhä arvoitus or ”Loneliness is still a mystery.”
Yhä means ”still.”
Arvoitus means ”riddle,” ”puzzle,” ”enigma” or ”mystery.”
MEANING:
Noun: bother, inconvenience; ailment.
Vaiva appears in our example in the abessive case singular, abessive case expressing the lack or absence of the marked noun. In English, the corresponding function is often expressed by the preposition without or by the suffix -less. So vaivatta means ”without bother.” Abessive case is rarely used in speech or writing except in certain expressions.
RELATED WORD:
The verb vaivata (”to trouble” or ”to bother”) comes from vaiva- (genitive singular stem of vaiva) + -ta.
EXTRA CREDIT:
Let’s translate the whole musical title, Miten menestyä vaivatta liike-elämässä, which is the Finnish translation of the American book and subsequent musical, ”How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”
Miten means ”how.”
Menestyä is a verb meaning ”to succeed” or ”to be successful.”
Liike-elämääsä is a compound term which means ”business world.”
pääesiintyjä
MEANING:
Noun: headliner.
DERIVED FROM:
Pääesiintyjä is a compound term made from pää– (a prefix meaning ”head,” ”prime,” ”primary” or ”leading”) + esiintyjä (”performer”).
In our example, the word pääesiintyjä appears in translative case, pääesiintyjäksi to indicate a transition or change of state, i.e. the Rolling Stones are indicated to have become the headliner.
EXTRA CREDIT:
Let’s translate the entire headline, ”The Rolling Stones – kolmella miljoonalla Roskilden pääesiintyjäksi,” or ”The Rolling Stones – three million to be the headliners of the Roskilde Festival.”
MEANING:
Noun: pigeon, dove.
EXTRA CREDIT:
Kyyhkynen appears in its nominative plural form, kyyhkyset in the title of Finnish author Sofi Oksanen’s latest novel, Kun Kyyhkyset Katosivat, which means ”When the pigeons disappeared.”
You may also see kyyhky which is a synonym for kyyhkynen.
A dove is a kind of bird in the pigeon family. The names pigeon and dove are often used both for the same meaning. However, there is a small difference. Doves have a smaller body and often have longer tails
MEANING:
Noun: 1. (computer) monitor. 2. showing.
You may also see monitori or näytin (”computer screen”).
DERIVED FROM:
Näyttö comes from the verb näyttää which means ”to show” or ”to present” plus the suffix -ö that can be added to verb stems to form nouns.
EXTRA CREDIT:
Some other related words:
MEANING:
Noun: equality.
DERIVED FROM:
Tasa-arvo is a compound term that comes from tasa (”level” or ”equal”) plus arvo (”worth,” ”value,” ”rank,” ”standing” or ”title”.)
EXTRA CREDIT:
Tasa-arvon päivä (Equality Day) is celebrated in Finland on March 19th. It is also the birthday of Finnish social activist Minna Canth.
Other words with a similar meaning:
MEANING:
Noun: pine cone.
DERIVED FROM:
Männynkäpy is a compound term that comes from männyn (genitive singular of mänty meaning pine) + käpy (”cone”).
EXTRA CREDIT:
The Helsinki neighbor Käpylä comes from this word.
Finnish Word of the Day 