Sauna

[karen]

A Pub thread has brought this question to my mind.

Is sauna a verb as well as a noun? For the past 9 years I've been saying "go to sauna" rather than just sauna. Or is it just the English translation because saunaing sounds funny? Menen saunamaan? Menen saunaan? What's the correct way to say that one is going to have/take/go to the sauna?

[Viharo]

There is a verb saunoa :)

So I would assume Menen saunomaan, should be correct too :)

[karen]

Aha!

[EP]

Menen saunaan is fine. While you are already in the sauna you "saunot", I "saunon". If you just say "käyn saunassa", you are just popping in to collect the towel you forgot.

[EP]

Sorry, I take the last one back. I just realized that when we were leaving the cottage I said "käyn vielä saunassa before we leave". And that meant that I took a quick löyly and a dip in the lake. "Käyn saunassa" is quick, "saunon" or "menen saunaan" is lingering.

[sammy]

Sorry, I take the last one back. I just realized that when we were leaving the cottage I said "käyn vielä saunassa before we leave". And that meant that I took a quick löyly and a dip in the lake. "Käyn saunassa" is quick, "saunon" or "menen saunaan" is lingering.

Yes... but if we go into the finer details - maybe this depends on the School of Saunagoing one belongs to, but in my language use "käyn saunassa" can also mean lingering Even if you say, käväisen saunassa. Although "käväistä" does strictly speaking seem to imply a quick visit, I guess that especially when sauna is concerned, quick visits are just not kosher.

(And, come to think of it, one can also say e.g. "käväisen Tampereella" and not mean that you just step off the train for a few seconds and then retreat back to the safety of the cariage, heading homewards... in everyday language, it can mean the whole day. Unless one is quite pedantic and always in time )

[priki]

Yes... but if we go into the finer details - maybe this depends on the School of Saunagoing one belongs to, but in my language use "käyn saunassa" can also mean lingering Even if you say, käväisen saunassa. Although "käväistä" does strictly speaking seem to imply a quick visit

Should it be "käväisen/käyn saunalla" in case of lingering? Usually the laundry place is not in sauna (=hot room) but in washing room, so 'saunalla' would be better. For me 'käydä saunassa' is taking a good bath in the sauna - unless adding an explanative part for something else, like 'käyn saunassa katsomassa unohdinko pyyhkeeni sinne'.

[sammy]

Should it be "käväisen/käyn saunalla" in case of lingering? Usually the laundry place is not in sauna (=hot room) but in washing room, so 'saunalla' would be better. For me 'käydä saunassa' is taking a good bath in the sauna - unless adding an explanative part for something else, like 'käyn saunassa katsomassa unohdinko pyyhkeeni sinne'.

Hmm... yes, if you say "käväisen saunalla" the idea is that you do not actually go sauna bathing, you just e.g. pop in there to fetch your contact lenses or dentures...

Speaking of sauna, one of the more quaint words that have been distantly derived from it is of course turpasauna

[kalmisto]

>> Speaking of sauna, one of the more quaint words that have been distantly derived from it is of course "turpasauna". <<

And "selkäsauna" which means approximately the same as "turpasauna" :

http://www.websters-online-dictionary.o ... %25A4sauna

[sammy]

And "selkäsauna" which means approximately the same as "turpasauna"

I'm not sure but I think turpasauna is not a "real" Finnish word though, but one that has humorouly been combined from "saada / tulla turpaan" and "selkäsauna" (?)

[kalmisto]

Turpasauna - a song by YUB ( Yhdistyneet Urbaanit Puoskarit ) :

http://lirama.net/song/60742

[kalmisto]

>> Is sauna a verb as well as a noun? <<

A morphological analyser of Finnish can answer your question. See here what it says about "sauna" ! :

http://www2.lingsoft.fi/cgi-bin/fintwol?word=sauna

tags here : http://www2.lingsoft.fi/doc/fintwol/intro/tags.html

"sauna" can never be used as a verb. The verb you are looking for is "saunoa" :

http://www2.lingsoft.fi/cgi-bin/fintwol?word=saunoa

[kalmisto]

More Lingsoft demos here : http://www.lingsoft.fi/?lang=en&doc_id=107