We're getting worse at it...!

[sammy]

It seems that the Finnish (mother tongue) matriculation exam results have been getting worse and worse recently:

http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/oikea/id30352.html

If the written language skills of the Finnish youth are getting closer to spoken language, what's the reason for this? Not enough literature? SMS stule of writing - attention span of 160 characters?

I wonder if this abominable deterioration of language has been the trend elsewhere as well...?

From what I've noticed, even university educated Finns do seem to have more and more difficulties with compound words. Erikois tarjous! But maybe the thing discussed briefly in the news runs deeper. Dunno.

[viqwr]

From what I've noticed, even university educated Finns do seem to have more and more difficulties with compound words. Erikois tarjous! But maybe the thing discussed briefly in the news runs deeper. Dunno.

This is just the Lappeen ranta kind of stuff that makes my blood boil. I mean how difficult can the compounds be? Another mission impossible seems to be the correct use of hyphens, nowadays it's almost everytime 25 vuotias and 2-vuotta... sigh.

We might have to start carrying red markers whenever we go shopping in case we come across bad Finnish in signs...

[sammy]

We might have to start carrying red markers whenever we go shopping in case we come across bad Finnish in signs...

Yeah, some kind of stickers saying "yhdys sana mies iski jälleen"

And another thing! Where does this kind of fawlty punctuation with exclamation & question marks originate:

This is a really good movie !

Do you hear me ?

There should be NO SPACE there but I'm seeing more and more of it around. Grrrowl!

[enk]

My favs are the people who get bent out of shape if I admit to not
reading their posts in Finnish because of the yhdys sana virheet. Cripes,
it's not that hard!

-enk

[EP]

If it were only some signs or ads, but it goes as deep as Hesari and tabloids. And radio commentators! They use subject in plural and the following verb in singular all the time. I feel nauseated every day.

Magazines are a little more careful, but for how long?

[yamoussoukro]

Guys, you make it sound like it's the end of the world. It's annoying though.

[Hank W.]

Just run the page through 'Korsoraattori' and enjoy
Ylioppilaslautakunnan mukaan tason lasku tiätsä on seuraust äidinkielen niinku opetuxen vähentämisest 1990-luvulla.

[sammy]

Just run a page through 'Korsoraattori' and enjoy
Ylioppilaslautakunnan mukaan tason lasku tiätsä on seuraust äidinkielen niinku opetuxen vähentämisest 1990-luvulla.

Yeah... also go to http://korsoraattori.evvk.com and punch in the http://www.helsinki.fi pages... how much more realistic it becomes

[Irbe]

Guys, you make it sound like it's the end of the world. It's annoying though.

It can be the beginning of the end of the language .

[Hank W.]

Oh, so we need to maintain the language eternally the same?

Enämbi viina saattaa ihmisen tompelixi,
wiisaat willidze ja hullut teke vielä hullummax,
turmele taidon, sytyttä hecuman, saatta capinan ja punaiset silmät.

[sammy]

Oh, so we need to maintain the language eternally the same?

Naah... no language stays the same, there's bound to be change. You don't need to go back very far in time - when you listen to old Finnish "tv-speak" (sport commentators are my favs) from the 50's or early 60's, well, no-one speaks Finnish with that note anymore.

This is a classic (or at least I think it went somewhat like this), from an old tv documentary about the first "twist" competition in Finland

Kilpailussa nähtiin vieterimäisiä liikkeitä, kuultiin pimputusta ja rämpytystä, ulinaa ja ähkyntää.

You'd need to hear the peculiar note of "late 50's tv commentator" speech in there, though. God it is hilarious. You might occasionally see that excerpt on television when they show nostalgic moments of Finnish pop music or stuff like that...

- however, getting back to the subject: some language change may be inevitable, but some of it is simply idiotic and annoying

Se tuli linja autolla! Sillee, tiäksä, ihan sika nopeella linja autolla... siis se ketä oli tääl viime viikon loppunaki...

[viqwr]

Se tuli linja autolla! Sillee, tiäksä, ihan sika nopeella linja autolla... siis se ketä oli tääl viime viikon loppunaki...

Elikkä mä itse henkilökohtaisesti oon sitä mieltä, että kun sä puhut tollee nii sit kyl kieli alkaa muuttumaan pitkässä juoksussa niiku sillee entist paremmaks tiäksä

[polamook]

Oh boy. You really shouldn't get me started on this...

The Finnish language is definitely deteriorating. There have always been people who just can't get the hang of grammar, but nowadays there's a veritable epidemic of pidgin Finnish going around. At work, a good proportion of the e-mail messages that I receive are all but indecipherable. I mean, I literally can't figure out what these supposedly well-educated professionals are trying to tell me. Kind of defeats the purpose of language, doesn't it?

Grammar aside, we are losing the expressiveness and variety in our language. The vocabulary is getting smaller, and everybody keeps repeating the same hackneyed phrases such as "loppupeleissä". Come on, learn new words! Synonyms are fun! Language is not there just to help get the business done - you can also manipulate it and twist it around to amuse and entertain your fellow citizens.

There's plenty more to rant and rave about, but I've already worked myself up to such a state of agitation that I need to go out now and get drunk. But I will be back.

Just to leave you on a positive note: if you wish to hear beautiful, eloquent and very, very funny Finnish, get the Tummien vesien tulkit DVD. A TV series written by the mighty Kari Hotakainen, it is a hoot.

[littlefrank]

It's not just Finns. Maybe I can put my bad, almost nonexistent Finnish speaking skills to the deterioration of the Finnish language?

http://www.felixonline.co.uk/v2/article.php?id=3017