There are two main dialects of Finnish, the Western, which has produced
the modern literary language, and the Eastern, in which the Kalevala is
written. There are also many others of which perhaps the most important
is that called the Savolaks dialect, which is hardly a literary language,
though in the ‘Lönrötin Albumi,’ p. 286, there is a story called
‘Keisarin tuttu’ written in it. It appears to be characterized by a
great fondness for the sound of =i=, which is added to other vowels;
e.g. =tiällä= for =täällä=, =hiän= for =hän=. On the other hand =i= is
often apparently shortened to a semivowel, merely modifying the previous
consonant; e.g. =olj= for =oli=. The letter =d= does not occur, but
is represented by =j= or =v=, =meijänni= for =meidänkin=, =käyvä= for
=käydä=. The dialect would seem to be generally characterized by a soft
and rather thick utterance. =Olen= becomes =oun= and =olette=, =outta=.
=V= is frequently doubled; e.g. =hyvvee päivee=, and =o= is often used
for =a=; e.g. =mokomoo= for =mokomaa=. So also we have forms like
=soatanoo= for =saatanee=, =pankoo= for =pankaa=. The root of verbs has
the letter =k= added in the negative and imperative forms: =en annak=,
=annak=.
On the Eastern frontier of Finland and in the adjoining parts of the
Russian Government of Olonetz is spoken a dialect called Karelian, which
in its present form is much corrupted by the influence of Russia. The
Kalevala, however, which was mostly collected in this part of the world,
is written in a pure Finnish dialect, which has come to be accepted as
the ordinary language of poetical composition.
The chief peculiarities of the dialect of the Kalevala are as
follows[18]:—
I. The letter =d= does not exist. =T= disappears altogether in the cases
where in the ordinary dialect it is softened to =d=. For instance—=saa’a=
(=saada=), =pöyän= (=pöydän=), =tieän= (=tiedän=), =tahon= (=tahdon=),
=kahen= (=kahden=), =yhen= (=yhden=), =puhas= (=puhdas=), =ouoille=
(=oudoille=), =eellä=, =eessä= (=edellä=, =edessä=), =sio= (=sido=).
II. Similarly the letter =k= is dropped altogether when in literary
Finnish it either becomes =j= or remains unchanged.
(1) =lk=, =rk= in a closed syllable become simple =l= and =r=, not =lj=,
=rj=: e.g. =jälen= for =jäljen= (=jälki=), =kulen= for =kuljen=.
(2) =sk= and =tk=, which are not subject to softening in ordinary
Finnish, become =s= and =t= in closed syllables: =kosen= for =kosken=,
=kaselle= for =kaskelle=, =itettävä= for =itkettävä=.
III. =rt=, =lt= are not assimilated in the infinitive of verbs of conj.
3: =kuulta=, =surten= for =kuulla=, =surren=.
IV. The pronominal affixes do not always prevent consonants being
softened as in ordinary Finnish: =ajansa= for =aikansa=, =iäni= for
=ikäni=.
V. Where long vowels and diphthongs are the result of contraction, the
Kalevala employs dissyllabic forms. These contracted forms in ordinary
Finnish may be divided into two classes.
(_a_) The long vowel is the result of the omission of =h= (representing
an original =s= or other consonant) between the two component vowels.
In such cases the Kalevala always employs the fuller and more primitive
forms with =h=. So we have =vierahan= for the literary =vieraan=,
=kotihin= for =kotiin=, =käyähän= for =käydään= (=d= omitted).
(_b_) But there are a number of cases where the long vowels =aa= and
=ää= in ordinary literary Finnish are not the result of the omission of
=h=. Under these circumstances the Kalevala has =oa= instead of =aa= and
=eä= instead of =ää=. Thus the partitive singular of =kala= is formed by
suffixing =a=—that is =kala-a=. In ordinary Finnish this gives =kalaa=
(dissyllabic), but in the Kalevala we find =kaloa=. This form may be
compared with the partitive plural, =kaloja=, where =a= becomes =o= in
ordinary Finnish. It is to be noted however that the change to =oa=
occurs in the Kalevala even when the vowel of the first syllable is
=a=—=oroa= for =oraa=.
The instances of this change fall under three categories:
(1) Partitive cases of nouns and adjectives: =aikoa= for =aikaa=, =ilmoa=
for =ilmaa=, =luutoa= for =luutaa=, =päiveä= for =päivää=, =tereä= for
=terää=.
(2) The first infinitive of verbs: =ajoa= for =ajaa=, =eleä= for =elää=,
=lenteä= for =lentää=, =piteä= for =pitää=.
(3) Contracted verbs of class 3: =arvoan= for =arvaan=, =lupoan= for
=lupaan=, =lepeämättä= for =lepäämättä=.
VI. The plural (except the nom.) is sometimes formed with the suffix
=-loi=, before the case suffix. This form is used chiefly in words ending
in =o=, =ö=, =u=, =y=, =i=, and =e=; e.g. =rekilöitä=, =ristilöitä=,
=lukkoloita=, =mahtiloita=.
VII. The style of the Kalevala is characterized by the frequent use of
derivative forms from nouns ending in =o=, =nen= (_or_ =onen=), =yt=
(or =ut=), and =kainen=. These forms have a diminutive or endearing
significance. They are mostly quite incapable of translation into
English, but correspond to the Russian diminutives. E.g. from =emä= are
formed =emo=, =emonen=, and =emyt=; from =isä=, =iso=, =isonen=, and
=isyt=; from =kaunis=, =kauno=, =kaunokainen= _or_ =kaunukainen=; from
=kesä=, =kesonen= and =kesyt=; from =meri=, =meronen= and =meryt=; from
=neiti=, =neitinen=, =neito=, =neitonen=, =neiyt=, and =neityinen=; from
=puu=, =puuhut=; from =päivä=, =päivönen= and =päivyt=; from =veli=,
=velo=, =vello=, =veljyt=, =veijo=, =veito=, =veitonen=, =veikko=, and
=veikkonen=.
We also find a great quantity of derivative verbs ending in =ella=,
=skella=, =ahta=, =alta=, etc., in which the exact force of the syllable
added is often obscure.
VIII. In verbs the 3rd person sing. of the present is formed with the
suffix =vi=, a weakening of the original =pi= used in monosyllables.
E.g. =tekevi=, =ajattelevi=, =sanovi=, =ajavi=, =kaatelevi=. But in
monosyllables =pi= is always used, =uipi=, =saapi=.
IX. Some verbal stems ending in =a= or =ä= reject this vowel before =t=,
=k=, =n=, and are conjugated as if they belonged to the third class. Thus
=löytää= forms the past participle =löynnyt= for =löytänyt=: =tietää=
forms concessive =tiennen= and past part. =tiennyt=. So =seista=,
=seiskaamme=, =seissut= from =seiso=.
X. In the formation of the passive many verbs ending in =ta=, =tä= reject
this syllable and also the consonant =n=, if it precedes. =Löytää= makes
the passive stem =löyttä= instead of =löydettä=: =rakentaa=, =raketta=
for =rakennetta=: =kuumentaa=, =kuumetta= for =kuumennetta=.
XI. The conjugation of the reflexive verbs (as already mentioned) offers
a mass of forms unknown to literary Finnish, which sometimes also occur
in verbs which are not strictly reflexive.