|
The term Finglish was introduced by professor Martti Nisonen in 1920s in Hancock, Michigan to describe a linguistic phenomenon he encountered in America. As the term describes, Finglish is a mixture of English and Finnish. In Finglish the English lexical items are nativized and inserted into the framework of Finnish morphology and syntax. Finglish is found in any place in Finland, where international contacts and popular culture exists, including Finnish language learners.
Examples of some words include vörkkiä (to work), spreijata (to spray), hengailla (to hang), finanssi (a finance) and hevijuuseri (heavy user).
One skiing celebrity in Finland, Matti Nykänen, is memorable for his use of Finglish in these more famous quotes (with emphasis on Finglish words aded): "Elämä on laiffii", and "Kaikki on ihan allright minulla"; meaning respectively: "Life is life", and "Everything is rather allright with me". These statements seem rather odd and it's hard to tell exactly what Nykänen is getting at. However, a linguistic analysis of Finglish could perhaps conclude that use of Finglish in conversation is marked, and thus brings attention to that particular part of discourse.
|
