iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Johan Schalin

Jackson Crawford @norsebysw.bsky.social · 22h

Not my most perfect recitation of the Lord's Prayer in Gothic from memory, but the one with the best backdrop. From a video on Youtube where I introduce the language of the Goths (as in Ostrogoths or Visigoths), the oldest language closely related to English for which we have long written records.

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Jackson Crawford @norsebysw.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The distinction between long and short vowels (as in literally made for more or less time) is one we never notice in English but important in other languages (Norwegian, Finnish…). And while English-speakers are often resistant to doing it, it made a difference in Old Norse in distinguishing words.

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

On this intriguing subject a paper of mine states: "Old Norse cannot at the same time be both a thirteenth century descendant of a Viking Age Old West Nordic and the ancestor of Classic Old Swedish and Early Middle Danish, which are contemporaneous with it." www.researchgate.net/publication/...

researchgate.net

(PDF) On the periodisation of early North Germanic (Article Postprint/AAM)

PDF | This postprint/AAM of an article in NOWELE welcomes the recent proposal of Michael Schulte (2024) for a periodisation of early North Germanic,... | Find, read and cite all the research you need ...

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Among thousands of Swedish names for islets an etymological favourite: 1200 compounds in ”-bådan”. This is the PIE ”buddha-word” with meanings of inviting and (fore)boding in Germanic. Here the seafarer sees waves breaking, which bode of land and dangerous rocks kaino.kotus.fi/svenska/ledl...

kaino.kotus.fi

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Another favourite: 550 compounds in ”-haru(n)” (with two short syllables), or hä(:)r(r)a; for low bare skerry by the open sea. Similar to ”-har” ’(rocky) reef’ in the inner archipelago. Etymology obscure but compare to Old Norse hǫrgr ’cairn’. kaino.kotus.fi/svenska/ledl...

kaino.kotus.fi

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

kaino.kotus.fi

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Finland har över 100.000 öar, holmar, skär, kobbar och grund, och de flesta som ligger i havet finns i det svenska språkområdet. Därför finns det t.ex. ca. 4000 namn som slutar på ”-skär” (’skerry’). sprakinstitutet.fi/kobbar-grynn...

sprakinstitutet.fi

Kobbar, grynnor, skär

Svenskan har tiotals ord för landområden som omgärdas av vatten. Orden står sällan ensamma, de är efterleder i namn som Långskär, Algrund och Granholm. Några av namnen har sitt ursprung i finskan, som...

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Sāmapriyavasuḣ @avzaagzonunaada.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Also, even with something like a tap, not all taps are made equal. E.g., I heard an Indian guy speaking Georgian in a video once, and his Hindi (or whatever was the native language) stuck out to my ears, very different from a native Georgian tap. But could I tell you what the difference is? No!

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Researching the phonology and phonetics of rhotics is like quantum physics. They are in a superposition until someone introduces MRI, PRAAT or what not to observe them. Then they decide whether they are detrilled, devoiced, fricated affricated [ɾ͡ʒ] and/or ”degraded” [ɾ͡ɹ]. #langsky

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

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Mateusz Fafinski @calthalas.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Remember, both the Iliad and the Odyssey were originally audiobooks.

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Because Language (becauselangpod) @becauselanguage.com · 17/07/2026

Our spelling mistakes are *fixing* English. New episode with Danny Bate, author of "Why Q Needs U" Get it in all the podcast places. becauselanguage.com/141-why-q-ne... @dannybate.com @blinkbooks.bsky.social

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

30) Fi. Kerava -Sw.Kervo Kervo 1443, Kerffwo 1539, Kerffuo 1553 A village name at the border of the Fi/Sw speech areas, with a Finnish origin but first attestations in Swedish. It has been hypothesised that the stem KerA/Ä- is the same as in the Finnish word for "þing", meaning 'assembly, counsel'👇

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

This is a high quality music video with subtitles, but it opens in a browser. #langsky

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

This is a high quality music video with subtitles, but it opens in a browser. #langsky

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Meawhile in Stockholm 🤓. Jakob Norrgård from Vörå, Ostrobothnia, Finland, performs the aria Nessun Dorma in his (quite archaic Swedish) Vörå dialect (re:subtitles). The syllables follow the Italian original closely, but the text tells a whole different mundane story 🤣. www.svtplay.se/klipp/KPBArG...

svtplay.se

Allsång på Skansen – Jakob Norrgård - Nissan Bromsa

Jakob Norrgård från musikgruppen KAJ framför låten Nissan Bromsa i Allsång på Skansen.

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

29) Fi. Rauma -Sw.Raumo The Swedish name (Raumo 1442) is a medieval scribal adaption of the Finnish name (Rawma 1449): dialect speakers would have nativised the diphthong into öu or ou, as other examples show. The third oldest town on our list so far, only (nr 6) Turku and (nr 18) Borgå are older👇

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

28) Sw.Kyrkslätt -Fi.Kirkkonummi Kirkeslæth, Kyrkioslæth 1330, Kirkensleth, Kyrkeslete 1335; Kirckeslätt 1472. Medieval municipality 35km west of Helsinki meaning 'Church plain' in Swedish. The name was transferred from the church site/village before historical times.👇

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

27) Fi.Tuusula -Sw.Tusby Originally a village name in Sibbo parish just on the Finnish-speaking side of the language border. Thusby 1443, Tusby 1540, Tvsby 1543, Tusula 1553. Own parish with the same name 1643. The first part is a Low German man's name "Dose" adapted into Finnish as Tuusa/Tuusu.

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

25) Fi.Lohja -Sw.Lojo Lohia 1382, Lohio 1382, Loijo 1382?, Lojo 1384. This name sticks out in that already the first two attestations look more Finnish than Swedish. The vowel in Swedish has participated in the vowel shift around the year 1400, which proves it was already lengthened in 1384 👇

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Sāmapriyavasuḣ @avzaagzonunaada.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

An interesting case regarding ā-ending names pops up in languages like Marathi, Punjabi and Hindi-Urdu. Sanskrit final vowels, including -ā, have long disappeared in these languages. Instead, the modern synchronic feminine ending is -ī (< Skt. -ikā). Its masculine counterpart is -ā (< Skt. -aka-).

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Yoïn van Spijk @yvanspijk.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

The word ‘quick’ has surprising relatives. It’s related to ‘vital’, ‘vivid’, and Spanish ‘vivir’ (to live) via Latin, and to ‘bio-‘ and ‘zoo’ via Ancient Greek. Germanic relatives include Dutch ‘kweken’ (to grow; to foster) and German ‘keck’ (sassy). Click my new graphic to learn all about it:

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

24) Fi.Järvenpää -Sw.Träskända Treskendaby 1540, Treskenda 1547, Järffuepä 1553. The village (town from 1952) once was part of Sibbo parish centred in a Swedish-speaking area, but the Swedish name translates the Finnish name: ‘lake’s end’. The composer Jean Sibelius lived there from 1904 to 1957.

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

23) Fi.Hyvinkää -Sw.Hyvinge Originally a Finnish village name, Höffinga 1495, Hyffuinga 1539, Hyvinkä 1545. It became a municipality only in 1926, around a population concentration by a railway junction. The name likely contains a man's name *Hyvinkä, formed with a suffix to an adjective hyvä 'good'

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Christa Dürscheid @christaduerscheid.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Wie schön: ein neuer Asterix-Band! Und dieser sogar mit aktuellen Bezügen. Das wird Elon und Mark freuen. Interessant ist auch, dass dieser Comic in über 100 Sprachen und Dialekte übersetzt wurde, darunter z.B. Hessisch, Pfälzisch, aber auch Grondspraatsi www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/asterix-band...

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

22) Fi.Kokkola -Sw.(Gamla)Karleby Originally two different names; both being used in both languages. Sw. Gamble Carleby (attested ca. 1614) was a parish name. Sw. Kockola was a village-level name of Finnish origin. Attested in Swedish: ”Kåcholaby Utij Gambla Karleby sochen” 1619, ”Kåckola by” 1620👇🏻

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

20) Fi=Sw Salo Medieval village name, meaning ”island”. This church in Uskela parish was built on a peninsula. ‼️‼️In line with the aim of this thread, namely to analyse the relation of the Finnish and Swedish names, I will from now on (otherwise move in order of size) skip towns with identical names.

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Based on the chain of naming, this effectively excludes this fortification to be the naming basis of the creek; the dating can be reverse engineered: The parish is named 'castle creek' by the late 13th century, The creek is named 1-2 generations earlier, The castle must stand in place yet earlier! 👇

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

19) Fi. Mikkeli -Sw.S:t Michel The name of the medieval parish Fi.Savilahti (<Savilaksi) -Sw.Savolax changed name in the 17th century after the main church dedicated to Saint Michael. The old parish name is still visible on the province’s name: Fi.Savo -Sw.Savolax

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Sw.Borgå -Fi.Porvoo Name of medieval parish and second oldest town in Finland. Borga 1327, Borgha 1335, Borgå 1408. "Borgh" means 'castle' and a>å means creek. In an old adaption Finnish substitutes -gh- with the fricative -v- in a labial context. AKA as "Bori" & "Porin kaupunki" in Finnish in 1787👇

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Daniel Tobias @dtlanghoff.raisilainen.no · 19/06/2026

And borrowed into Sámi with semantic shifts in Finnmark and further east en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nuorta#...

en.wiktionary.org

nuorta - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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Sāmapriyavasuḣ @avzaagzonunaada.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

/θ/ (now merged into /tʰ/) persisted in Söl'ring (Sylt Frisian) till the early 1800s. One of the words we have recorded with the fricative appears to be ‘methinks’. :)

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

17) Fi. = Sw. Rovaniemi "Ruanim" 1490, "Roanemi by" 1559 (village name). Parish from early 17th Century. In northern Finland many names include a Saami loanword "rova" 'burnt clearing'. In some cases rova-names may themselves be of Saami origin, but if so here, the "niemi"-part would be translated.

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

16) Seinäjoki First attestation (of the village) 1571, became a parish 1863. Commonly suggested to have had a Swedish name ”Östermyra”. Yet, this is a half-truth. That name has been carried by a nearby iron works from 1798, by an adjacent estate and briefly by a train station in the 1880ies👇🏻

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

15) Fi.Hämeenlinna -Sw-Tavastehus The names are translation correlates for each other and are documented together in both languages 1413 ”Tavastehus heter Hemelinda". Häme is (today) primarily a toponym and a person is "hämäläinen", Tavast is primarily an ethnonym and the province is Tavastland 👇

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

14) Fi.Vaasa -Sw.Vasa Founded 1606 as Sw.Mussar stad and renamed Vasa in 1611. The name Mussor (Mussar) derives from Fi.Mustasaari, which in both languages was the name of the (predominantly Swedish-speaking) parish around Vasa until the 20th century👇🏻

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

13) Fi.Lappeenranta -Sw.Villmanstrand The town was founded in 1652 by the marketplace of Lapp(w)e[e]strand [Lappvedenstrand] in the Parish of Lappee (<Lappvesi). "Lappi" means 'Saami', Finnish "vesi" declined "ve(d)e-" means 'water; lake', "strand" is Swedish for 'shore'. 👇

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

11) Joensuu 12) Kouvola Both places only have Finnish names, which are used unadapted in Swedish. Joensuu is a young (1848) town and its name was first instable, with longer versions such as Karjalan Joensuu & Pieleisjoensuun kaupunki. The village of Kouvola "Kouwolaby" has a name attested 1458 👇

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

10) Fi Pori - Sw Björneborg First attestations Biorneborg & Biörnnborgh 1563 (the town was founded 1558). Attestations in Finnish maintained the longer name (Biörnboris) until 1750. "Bori > Pori" came into use before the end of the century (Borin kaupungi 1787).👇

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

9. Fi Lahti -Sw Lahtis A medieval village first attested 1445 as an auxiliary name of a lay juror: ”Kalku Lactis”; the village name 1571 ”Laatis bij”. The Swedish suffixal -s occurs repeatedly in early adapted Finnish names. The origin may or may not be in the Old Swedish genitive case marker👇🏻

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

2) Fi Espoo - Sw Esbo Second municipality in Finland with 1/4 of the population in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The rural parish was first attested as ”Espa” (1431) and ”Espå” (1443). The naming basis is likely Old Swedish *Æsp(e)aa ’aspen creek’ or less likely ’Esbe’s (Esbjörn’s) creek’.

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Only one of the Swedish names so far (Vanda) and one of the Finnish names (Espoo) is a right off adaption from the other language. The 2x4 other cases have more or less different etymologies originally.

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

7) Fi = Sw Jyväskylä (1575: Jyueskylä) 8) Fi = Sw Kuopio (Koopia, Cååpia 1564) Since he stated topic of this thread (on the largest cities of Finland) is the etymological relation between Swedish and Finnish names, there is nothing to see here! Swedish has adopted these names without adapting them👇🏻

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

To sum up, having gone through the name pairs of the six largest cities in Finland: The Finns didn’t quite get Helsingfors but employed the name of the parish instead. When the parish became a city the mistake was ”fixed” by snatching the name ”Vantaa” from a small unknown village 56km upstream👇🏻

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Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 10/06/2026

Sometimes people are following me for a while and don't realize I have a podcast If that's you, hi! I make @lingthusiasm.com, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics! If that sounds like something you might like, give it a follow? And if you think your followers might like it, give an RT?

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

6) Fi Turku (or Suomen Turku) - Sw Åbo The oldest city in Finland and the centre of the Province of Finland ’Proper’. whose name got robbed by the whole country. The name Åbo is attested from the 13th century and the first attestation of ”Suomen turus” is from the 16th. ”turku” means ’market place’👇🏻

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

5) Fi Oulu - Sw Uleåborg The name is not originally Swedish but the first relevant attestation is. In 1328 the lake Oulunjärvi (100km upstream by Oulunjoki river) was referred to as ”Wlvthræsk” (today Sw. ”Ule träsk”). The Finnish name is of obscure origin and so is the first vowel in Swedish Ule- 👇🏻

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Johan Schalin @schaljoh.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

4) Fi Vantaa -Sw Vanda This municipality, where 1/5 of the population in the Helsinki metropolitan area lives, continues what is left of the Helsinge parish after land grabs by Helsinki. The names were adopted recently, when the municipality got urban legal status in 1972, but their roots are old.

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