Good Mother

[pppswing]

Hello,
I want to know how to say good mother in finnish, I think of "hyvä emä" but I would like something more familiar for "good" like "chouette" in french or "tore" is estonian. Ist this right, any suggestion ?

Thanks

[kalmisto]

pppswing

I do not think that I understand what you mean by "good mother". Could you put it in a sentence?

mother = äiti ( in Finnish )

Do you mean "dear mother" ?

[pppswing]

I mean good mother like great mother.
For example,
"You are a good mother."

So you think "hyvä äiti" is better than "emä" What is the difference between emä and äiti?

Is there a finnish word that is used by children like "mom", "momy", something informal and more commun?

[kalmisto]

Here is an on-line Finnish-English-Finnish dictionary for you :

http://www.tracetech.net/db.htm

We use "emä" and "emo" when we talk about animals.

"Äiti" is a human mother.

You are a good mother = Sinä olet hyvä äiti

You are a brilliant mother = Sinä olet loistava äiti

Children often say "äiskä" for "äiti" and "iskä" for "isä"( father ).

[Hank W.]

"ema" is estonian.

You will get gazillion of confusions with the words. Estonians sometimes use the same word in the same place, sometimes the words are used slightly 'off' and sometimes they have evolved a word in Finnish is archaic and sounds if not weird then hilarious. Not to mention one difference in a letter makes another word so...

"Viineri on tuore ja makea"
"Viiner on toores ja mage"

Finnish: The pastry is fresh and sweet.
Estonian: The sausage is raw and saltless.

Korjata ja koristaa

Finnish: fix up and decorate
Estonian: pick up and clean up

Estonian: ma hakkan karjuda (i am starting to yell)
Finnish: ... beating up a hog???

[kalmisto]

pppswing

Is Estonian your mother tongue?

What do these three Estonian sentences have in common :

1. See ei ole minu süü.

2. Pese käsi ja tule sööma!

3. Kui palju lapsi teil on ?

I hope that I spelled everything correctly.

[dusty_bin]

emä is Estonian for mummy. (not the one with bandages!)

[kalmisto]

>> emä is Estonian for mummy. (not the one with bandages!) <<

Is it "emä" or "ema"? I thought that it would be "ema". I may be wrong, of course, I can´t speak Estonian.

[kalmisto]

pppswing

Here is the answer to my question:

All those three Estonian sentences can be easily understood by a Finn who does not speak a word of Estonian.

1. See ei ole minu süü = Se ei ole minun syyni. ( in Finnish ) = It is not my fault.

2. Pese käsi ja tule sööma ! = Pese kädet ja tule syömään ! = Wash your hands and come to eat !

3. Kui palju lapsi teil on ? = Kuinka monta lasta teillä on ? = How many children do you have ?

I asked you if your mother tongue was Estonian. Some might say that it was a stupid question. I do not think so. There are a lot of Estonians who do not speak Finnish.

[Hank W.]

All those three Estonian sentences can be easily understood by a Finn who does not speak a word of Estonian.

And, for a Finn, its slightlly 'off'.

2. Pese käsi ja tule sööma ! = Wash a hand and come to eat.

3. Kui palju lapsi teil on ? = How much of children do you have?

-It is totally understandable, if you get accustomed to the 'twang' and figure out which verbs are 'off' - most common verbs are the same (eat, sleep etc). Though in Finland only small babies go 'tutuma'. Then if a word is not understood, trying an 'international' or rather germanic loanword usually gets the idea through. Or then you just have to learn and giggle.

Suitsutamine kahjustab tervist. So a Finn thinks: Burning insence makes crazy health? = Smoking is bad for your health.




I've been having a lot of "similarity/difference" talks lately.