Norway and in (in).

FINNS(self-name - Suomalayset), nation, main population of Finland, about 4.4 million people (1976), in other countries about 0.6 million people, including 85 thousand people in the USSR (1970). Language Finnish; believers - some are Orthodox.

SUM(Suomi), an ancient Finnish tribe. With the conquest of S., who lived in the southwest coast of the country, in the mid-12th century, the conquest of Finland by Sweden began. Subsequently, together with other tribes, it formed the Finnish people.

FINNS(self-name - suomalaiset), 1) the city of Finland; 2) Finnish-Ugric people, main. in the village of Finland. Number 4.9 million people. (2014, according to data from the Statistics Center). They also live in Sweden (over 400 thousand native F., mainly in the east - 2012, census; 674.9 thousand named after -grants from Finland and their po-toms - 2008, re-write), USA (623.5 thousand people. Finnish production - 2000, census), Ka-na-de (131 thousand people, of which 73 thousand people in the On-Tario province - 2006, census), Russia ( 20.3 thousand people, including in Karelia 8.6 thousand people, Leningrad region 4.4 thousand people, St. Petersburg Ge 2.6 thousand people; fin-na-mi-in-ger-man-land-tsa-mi 0.4 thousand people called themselves. - 2010, re-write) and others. They speak in Finnish. language Believers in the basic lu-te-ra-ne, there are Mo-Rav-brothers (since the 1730s), Evan-ge-li-sty (since the 1840s), me-to-dis-sty, Bap-ti-sty, etc., in the East there are right-of-glorious ones.

Rice. E.N. Fedorchenko Women's costume of Eastern Finland: a shirt with embroidery on the chest (rekkopaita), a black woolen skirt with a red hem, an apron made of stripes of red cloth and brocade, a white caftan (viitta), a linen on the head...

F.'s ancestors are Baltic-Finnish. ple-me-na, settled across Finland in the 2nd-1st millennium BC. e. and you are close to the local village (including the ancestors of the Sami). In the Middle Ages, you-de-la-yu-t-sya ple-me-na suo-mi (the sum of ancient Russian is-to-accurate-ni-kov) in the south-west of the pas-de- me (Old Russian em) in Center. Finland and Sa-vo in the East. For app. F. ha-rak-ter-ny connections with Scan-di-na-vi-ey, for the eastern ones - with Pri-la-dozh-em and Upper Vol-zh-em. Until the end 19th century in the village x-ve pre-ob-la-da-lo land-le-de-lie (rye, barley, etc.; until the 2nd half of the 19th century, it was kept for cutting -og-ne-voe-le-de-lie, especially in the east; since the 20th century, potatoes have been grown mainly. cabbage soup, kor-mo-vye cul-tu-ry), from the end. 19th century ve-du-schi-mi hundred-but-vyat-sya dairy life-here-but-water-st-vo (co-ro-you of Finnish origin and Air-shire-born), bird-tse-water-st-vo. Tra-di-tsi-on-but-you-have-developed forestry industries, fishing-stations. Kre-st-yan-skie villages in the past-pas-de-deux until the 16-17th centuries. a bunch of plans, then - hu-to-ra, in the east - one-yard. Estate-ba so-sto-it from a living house, ri-gi (rii-hi), kle-ti (ait-ta), ba-ni (sau-na), etc.; in the south-west of the pas-de-country there is a yard. Log house dwelling, pre-name. three- or multi-dimensional, sometimes very long, sometimes G- or T-different in plan, with 2- th floor 18th century - also two-story; in the south-east of the country there is a house-yard of northern Russian. tee-pa. In the main dwelling in the place (tu-pa; in the south-west-pas-de, north-ve-re and east-ke - pir-ti, per-ti) at the entrance of the hundred it oven; on the other side from this (port-stua) there is the same room with a stove (to-it-tu-pa, vo-ora- ste tu-pa, za-al), in the south-za-pa-de (basin of the Ko-ke-mya-enyo-ki river) - with a cook-and-bread oven (ne -kar-nya - pa-ka-ri); sometimes in the ha-nyah or in the second tu-pa you-de-la-u-t-sya are up-to-half-tel-nye, first-at-the-start-but-not-so-p-li -your-places (kam-mo-ra, kam-mar). The chicken stove was usually made of stone, and often had smoke ducts leading into the furnace , and a she-tok with a suspended boiler (on the back-pas-de-pi-schu go-vi-li on the she-st-ke, on the east - the same at the mouth of the stove, they baked bread and pi-ro-gi there), in the east (Sa-vo and Kar-ya-la) - you are the guardian, in the bordering regions with Karelia - a low box with an entrance to the underfloor (head). From the 17th century in the back there is a stove with a smoke-mo-ho-house in the form of a pipe above the neck; from-west-ny and pe-chi tip-pa "Gol-land-ki". Housing is abundantly decorated with fabric-nya-mi, chrome-plated rose-pi-sew and carvings on the furniture (cabinets, on the -de - double-russian and sliding-beds) and ut-va-ri (spinning wheels, ho-mu-you, ko-ly-be-li, on- pas-de - two-on-vines, on the east - under-weight).

Traditional women's brassiere - ru-ba-ha or blue-za, one-tone, po-lo-sa-tay or checkered skirt, front-nick, bodice with you are deeply (lii-vi). East F. but-si-li that-none-about-different-ru-ba-hu with embroidery on the chest (re-ko-pay-ta) and a cut ku, rock-shaped fibula, white half-long caf-tan with wedges from the waist (wi-it-ta), to the beginning. 19th century - unsewn clothes with straps (khur-stut; cf.), in the districts bordering Ka-re-li-ya - sa-ra-fan; headdress in lo-ten-cha-ty (hun-tu), among the right-of-glorious ones - type Russian. ki-ki (so-rock-ka, ha-rak-ka).

In the East, they baked rye bread in the oven (ru-is-lim-ppu); on the premises they baked bread outside the premises of several. once a year in the form of rusty le-pe-sheks with an opening in the center (rey-kya-ley-pya), which are then stored na-ni-zan-mi-mi on the pole under the ceiling. On the pas-de they made home-made cheese, we made sour milk (wee-li), on the east - com-ko -I say pro-sto-kva-shu. Go-to-vyat the same soup (go-ro-ho-vyy - dick-no-kate, fish soup with milk - k-la-kate, etc.) , fish (including smoked, ma-ri-no-van-nuyu - graa-vi-lo-hi, you-mo-chen-nuyu in lye-ke - li-pea- ka-la), mushrooms, on Ro-zh-de-st-vo (Yo-ulu) - rusty pi-horn with fish (ka-la-kuk-ko), on Easter - pu-ding from rye flour (myam-mi), on Midsummer Day (Yukhan-nus, in the south-west of the pas-de - Met-tu-maa-ri, from the old-Swedish- sko-go midhsu-mar) - soup from milk-lo-ka and cheese-ra (yuhan-nu-syuu-sto), om-let (mu-na-vel-li), etc. Main. na-pi-tok on za-pas-de - beer, on vo-to-ke - kvass. On Ivan's Day, uk-ra-sha-li do-ma ze-le-new (including log-linen-ny-mi bir-rez-ka-mi), in Po-hyan-maa st- vi-li “iva-no-vu spruce” (yukhan-nu-sk-ku-si) with rim-ran-ny-mi branches, in the east they burned bonfires (yukhan -well-skok-ko), including in the form of you-so-kih ba-shen, etc.

Lit.: Sirelius U. T. Suomen kansanomaista kulttuuria: esineellisen kansatieteen tuloksia. , 1919-1921. Osa 1-2; Manninen I. Die finnisch-ugrischen Völker. Lpz., 1932; Valo-nen N. Zur Geschichte der finnischen Wohns-tu-ben. Hels., 1963; Vilkuna K. Isin työ - veden ja maan viljaa, arkityön kauneutta. Hels., 1976.

- (self-name Suomalayset) nation, the main population of Finland (4.65 million people), total number 5.43 million people (1992), incl. Russian Federation 47.1 thousand people (1989). Language Finnish. Protestant believers (Lutherans) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

FINNS, Finns, units. Finn, Finn, husband 1. Ugro people Finnish group, inhabiting Karelo, Finnish SSR and Finland. 2. The general name of the peoples of the Finnish branch of the Finno-Ugric peoples. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

FINNS, ov, units. Finn, ah, husband. The people who make up the main population of Finland. | wives Finnish, I. | adj. Finnish, aya, oh. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

- (self-name suomalay set), people. In the Russian Federation there are 47.1 thousand people living in Karelia, the Leningrad region, etc. The main population is Finland. The Finnish language is a Baltic-Finnish branch of the Finno-Ugric family of languages. Believers... ...Russian history

People living in the northwestern region of Europe. Russia and mainly in Finland. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910 ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

FINNS- FINNS, see Cysticercosis. FISTULA, see Fistula... Great Medical Encyclopedia

Finns- residents of a state in Northern Europe, Finland. However, they themselves do not call their country that way. This is a foreign name for them of Germanic origin. Finnish doesn't even have the f sound itself. For them, their country is Suomi, and they themselves are suoma layset (people... ... Ethnopsychological Dictionary

Ov; pl. Nation, main population of Finland; representatives of this nation. ◁ Finn, a; m. Finka, and; pl. genus. nok, dat. nkam; and. Finnish, oh, oh. F. epic. F. language. F. knife (short knife with a thick blade, worn in a sheath). F e sleigh, sleigh (sleigh,... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

FINNS- V broad meaning a number of Ural-Altai peoples. They were divided into four groups: a) Finnish in the narrow sense (Finns, Ests, Livs, Korels, Lapps); b) Ugric (Magyars, Ostyaks, Voguls); c) Volga region (Meshcherya, Merya, Muroma, Mordva, Cheremisy, Chuvash) and... ... Cossack dictionary-reference book

Books

• Finns serving in the SS troops during the Second World War, V. N. Baryshnikov. The monograph, based on Russian, Finnish and German sources, examines key events relating to relations between Finland and Germany in the 1920-1930s, as well as the period of the so-called…
• Finns serving in the SS troops during the Second World War. Second edition, corrected and expanded, Baryshnikov V.. The monograph, based on Russian, Finnish and German sources, examines key events relating to relations between Finland and Germany in the 1920-1930s, as well as the period of the so-called...

Faces of Russia. “Living together while remaining different”

The multimedia project “Faces of Russia” has existed since 2006, telling about Russian civilization, the most important feature of which is the ability to live together while remaining different - this motto is especially relevant for countries around the world post-Soviet space. From 2006 to 2012, within the framework of the project, we created 60 documentaries about representatives of different Russian ethnic groups. Also, 2 cycles of radio programs “Music and Songs of the Peoples of Russia” were created - more than 40 programs. Illustrated almanacs were published to support the first series of films. Now we are halfway to creating a unique multimedia encyclopedia of the peoples of our country, a snapshot that will allow the residents of Russia to recognize themselves and leave a legacy for posterity with a picture of what they were like.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Faces of Russia". Ingrians. 2011

General information

FINNS-INGERMANLANDANS, St. Petersburg Finns, people in the Russian Federation, subethnic group of Finns. The population in the Russian Federation is 47.1 thousand people, including in Karelia - 18.4 thousand people, in the Leningrad region (mainly Gatchina and Vsevolozhsk districts) - about 11.8 thousand people, in St. Petersburg - 5, 5 thousand people. They also live in Estonia (about 16.6 thousand people). Total number about 67 thousand people. According to the 2002 Population Census, the number of Ingrian Finns living in Russia is 300 people.

The language (a number of slightly different dialects) belongs to the eastern dialects of the Finnish language. Literary Finnish is also widely spoken. Self-name - Finns (suomalayset), inkerilaiset, i.e. inhabitants of Inkeri (Finnish name for Izhora land, or Ingria - the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland and Karelian Isthmus, Germanized name - Ingria).

Believing Ingrian Finns are Lutherans. In the past, there was a small group of Orthodox Christians among the Eurymeiset. The Savakots had widespread sectarianism (including “jumpers”), as well as various pietistic movements (Lestadianism).

The mass resettlement of Finns to the territory of Ingria began after 1617, when these lands, under the terms of the Stolbovo Treaty, were ceded to Sweden, which at that time included Finland. The main influx of Finnish colonists occurred in the mid-17th century, when the Swedish government began to carry out forced conversions local residents to Lutheranism and close Orthodox churches. This caused a mass exodus of the Orthodox (Izhorian, Votic, Russian and Karelian) population to the southern lands that belonged to Russia. The empty lands were quickly occupied by Finnish settlers. Settlers from the nearest regions of Finland, in particular from the parish of Euräpää and its neighboring parishes in the north-west of the Karelian Isthmus, were called eurymeiset, i.e. people from Euryapää. Ethnographic group Savakot, formed by settlers from Eastern Finland (the historical lands of Savonia), was more numerous: in the mid-18th century, out of 72 thousand Ingrian Finns, almost 44 thousand were Savakot. The influx of Finns into the territory of Ingria also occurred in the 19th century. The Ingrian Finns had little contact with the indigenous population of this region.

At the end of the 1920s and 30s, many Ingrian Finns were deported to other regions of the country. During the Great Patriotic War, about 2/3 of the Ingrian Finns ended up in the occupied territories and were evacuated to Finland (about 60 thousand people). After the conclusion of the peace treaty between the USSR and Finland, the evacuated population was returned to the USSR, but did not receive the right to settle in their previous places of residence. Since the late 1980s, a movement has developed among Ingrian Finns to restore cultural autonomy and return to their old habitats.

N.V. Shlygina

FINNS, suomalayset (self-name), people, the main population of Finland (4650 thousand people). They also live in the USA (305 thousand people), Canada (53 thousand people), Sweden (310 thousand people), Norway (22 thousand people), Russia (47.1 thousand people, see Ingrian Finns) and etc. The total number is 5430 thousand people. According to the 2002 Population Census, the number of Finns living in Russia is 34 thousand people.

Finnish is spoken by the Baltic-Finnish subgroup of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic family. Dialects are divided into Western and Eastern groups. Modern literary language based on Western dialects with the inclusion of Eastern vocabulary. Writing based on Latin script.

The believers are mostly Lutherans. Various Pietist movements are widespread: Herrnhuters (from the 1730s), Prayerists (from the 1750s), Awakeners (from the 1830s), Laestadians (from the 1840s), Evangelists (from 1840 's), Free Church, Methodists, Baptists, Adventists, Pentecostals, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. There is a small number (1.5%) of Orthodox Christians in the southeastern regions (and immigrants from there).

The ancestors of the Finns - the Baltic-Finnish tribes - penetrated into the territory of modern Finland in the 3rd millennium BC and by the 8th century they settled most of it, pushing the Sami population to the north and partially assimilating it. The Finnish people were formed in the process of merging the southwestern tribes of the Suomi (in the Old Russian chronicles - Sum), Hame (Old Russian Em), who lived in the central part of Finland, the eastern Savo tribe, as well as the western (Vyborg and Saima) groups of Karelians (see Karelians). The eastern regions of the country were characterized by contacts with the Ladoga region and the Upper Volga region, and the southwestern regions with Scandinavia and the Baltic states.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Finnish lands were conquered by the Swedes. The long-term Swedish rule left a noticeable imprint on Finnish culture (agrarian relations, social institutions, etc.). The Swedish conquest was accompanied by the forced Christianization of the Finns. During the Reformation (16th century), Finnish writing was created. However, the Finnish language remained only a language of worship and everyday communication until the 2nd half of the 19th century, when it received formal equality with the Swedish language. In reality, it began to be implemented in independent Finland. Swedish language remains the second official language of Finland.

In 1809 - 1917 Finland, with the status of an autonomous Grand Duchy, was part of Russian Empire. In December 1917, the independence of Finland was proclaimed, and in July 1919 it became a republic.

IN folk culture Finns show differences between Western and Eastern Finland. The ethnographic border between them runs along the line of the modern cities of Kotka, Jyväskylä, then between Oulu and Raahe. In the West, the influence of Swedish culture is more noticeable. Until the end of the 19th century, agriculture was dominated by farming. In the east in the Middle Ages, the main form was slash-and-burn agriculture; in the southwest, a fallow arable system developed early; Since the end of the 19th century, multi-field crop rotation began to be introduced. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, dairy farming became the leading industry. Traditional crafts are marine (fishing, seal hunting, sailing), forest (tar smoking), woodworking (including the manufacture of wooden utensils). More than 33% of modern Finns are employed in industry, about 9% in agriculture and forestry.

Peasant settlements in the southwest of the country until the 16th-17th centuries were cumulus villages; from the 18th century, with the spread of farmstead land use, a scattered village layout began to predominate. In the east, due to the slash-and-burn system of agriculture, small settlements predominated, often single-yard ones; villages arose only where there were large areas lands suitable for permanent cultivation. Traditional home- a log house of elongated proportions with a gable roof covered with shingles. Since the 18th century, the south of Pohjanmaa has been characterized by a two-story house. The most important outbuildings were a barn, a bathhouse (sauna), and cages (in the southwest they were often two-story; the top floor was used for sleeping in the summer). In the southwest of Finland, a residential building and outbuildings formed a closed quadrangular courtyard; in the east, the courtyards have an open layout. Dwellings in the west and east of the country differed in the design of the stove: the west is characterized by a combination of a heating-bread stove and an open hearth for cooking food, and the early appearance of chimneys; In the East, an oven close to the so-called Russian oven is common. The interior of a Western peasant house is characterized by bunk and sliding beds, cradles on curved runners, and a variety of cabinet shapes. Polychrome painting and carvings were widespread, covering furniture and utensils (spinning wheels, rakes, clamp pliers, etc.). The living space was decorated with woven products (blankets, holiday bedspreads, curtains for bunk beds), and ruyu pile carpets. In the east, archaic forms of furniture were preserved for a long time - wall benches, fixed beds, hanging cradles, wall shelves, cabinets. Traditional architecture and decoration of the east of the country had a great influence on the architecture and art of the Finns during the so-called " national romanticism"late 19th century.

Traditional women's clothing - a shirt, blouses of various cuts, a skirt (mostly striped), a woolen sleeveless bodice or jacket, an apron, for married women - a linen or silk headdress on a rigid basis with lace trim; girls wore open headdresses in the form of a crown or headband. Men's clothing - shirt, knee-length pants, vests, jackets, caftans. In the east, a women's shirt with embroidery and an oblique cut on the chest, a white homespun or linen semi-long sundress (viita), a towel headdress, and caps were preserved for a long time. Embroidery patterns reflected Karelian and North Russian influence. Folk forms clothes disappear early, especially in the west of the country. Their revival and the formation of the so-called national costume occurs at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, during the period of the national movement. This costume still retains its festive and symbolic role today.

There were differences in the traditional food of Western and Eastern Finns: in the east, tall soft bread was regularly baked, in the west, bread was baked 2 times a year in the form of round flat dry cakes with a hole in the middle and stored on poles under the ceiling. In the east they made lumpy yogurt, in the west they made stretchy forms of fermented milk, and they also made homemade cheese. Only in the east were baked closed pies (including rybniks) and “wicket” type pies, only in the extreme southeast was daily consumption of tea accepted. In the western regions it is traditional to make beer, in the east - malt or bread kvass.

Small family. Large families, both paternal and fraternal, persisted until the 19th century in the north-west of the country in Pohjanmaa, in the north-east - in Kainuu, in the south-east - in Karjala, where they existed until the 20 century.

The wedding ritual in Western Finland was distinguished by Swedish influences and borrowings from church rites: wedding at home, “gate of honor”, ​​“wedding pole” in the yard, wedding under the canopy (“himmeli”), bride’s wedding crown, etc. The eastern Finns retained the archaic a form of wedding, with a three-part ritual of the bride’s “leaving” from her father’s house, moving (wedding train) to the groom’s house and the actual wedding-hyayat in his house. Many rituals were aimed at protecting the bride from evil spirits (when moving to the groom’s house, her face was covered with a veil, a knife was taken into the cart, etc.) and ensuring the fertility of the marriage.

Of the calendar holidays, the most important are Christmas and Midsummer's Day (Juhannus, Mittumaarja). During their conduct, various pre-Christian rituals were preserved, for example, making bonfires on Midsummer's Day. There was a belief in guardian spirits, troll witches, various protective actions, etc.

Epic songs of runic meter occupy a special place in folklore. Based on runes collected in Karelia, Eastern Finland and Ingermanland, E. Lönnrot compiled the epic “Kalevala” (1835), which became a symbol of the Finnish national movement.

N.V. Shlygina

Essays

One's own land is strawberries, someone else's land is blueberries / Oma maa mansikka; muu maa mustikka

Finland is called the Land of a Thousand Lakes. In fact, there are much more of them: about 190 thousand! Lakes occupy almost 9% of the entire territory of the country.

What happened before the lakes? To the forests? Before, when there was no land at all?

Initially, there was only an endless ocean. A lone bird flew above him in search of a nest. Exactly which one is unknown. Ancient runes differ on this issue. It could be a duck, a goose, an eagle, or even a swallow. In a word, a bird.

It was the bird that saw the knee of the first human being, which stuck out of the water. This was the tribe of the wise old man Väinämöinen or (in another rune) his mother, the heavenly maiden Ilmatar.

The bird laid an egg right on his knee... From this primary material the creator bird created the world. In some runes, the world is created by the first man Väinämöinen, and the firmament is forged by the blacksmith Ilmarinen.

From the top half of the egg the sky was created. From the bottom - the earth, from the yolk - the sun. From the protein - the moon, from the shell - the stars.

So, the creation of the universe is more or less clear, but how did it happen that the Finns became exactly what they are today?

Finn relies only on himself

The question is difficult, but it can be answered. The Finnish national character, so to speak, was forged from confrontation with nature. This is where the primary characteristic of Finnish consciousness begins. Everything about him is determined by the desire to conquer nature. And what's most interesting ( respectful): in the fight against the natural elements, the Finn relies only on himself. That is why he attaches such importance to himself, convincing himself of his abilities. In the Finn's mind, man is a truly powerful creature, called to conquer the elements. We see this in the epic “Kalevala”.

In fairy tales, this theme of knowing the secret codes of nature is also reflected, sometimes even slightly in comic form. Here, for example, is “The Peasant’s Prediction.”

Once upon a time there lived a king and a peasant, and the peasant's meadows and fields were so close to the royal palace that the owner had to pass through the courtyard of the royal castle every time on the way to his lands. One day a peasant went on a horse to buy some vein. When he was returning from the meadows through the royal courtyard, the king happened to be in the courtyard of his castle, and he began to scold the peasant.

How dare you, you idiot, drive through my yard with your hay, aren’t you ashamed?!

Sorry, dear king,” replied the peasant. “But the fact is that there will soon be a thunderstorm, it will begin to rain, and if I drove along the long circular road, I would not make it before the rain began to pour down, and my hay would get wet.” That's why I hurried straight ahead with the hay.

Well,” said the king, “how do you know this?”

Great sovereign! - answered the peasant. - I know from my mare's tail. Look how the gadflies crawl under your tail. And this is a sure sign that there will be bad weather.

That’s how... - said the king and allowed the peasant to pass.

After this, the king went to the tower of the palace astrologer and asked the fortuneteller whether it would rain today. The astrologer took the telescope, looked at the sky and said:

No, Mr. King, there will not be a single tear, not a single drop, today, tomorrow, or even the day after tomorrow, but then, maybe, there will be.

“I see,” said the king and descended from the tower to go to his chambers. But on the way to the palace, the king was overtaken by such heavy rain and a terrible thunderstorm that the king was wet to the skin. Finally he got, all dirty, to his palace and immediately called the fortuneteller to him.

You, unfortunate astrologer, will have to make room, since you understand nothing about the weather, while a stupid and uncouth peasant, looking at the tail of his mare, sees when it will rain and when there will be a bucket, - the king told him and dismissed him with positions, sending him to the stable to remove manure.

And the king summoned the peasant to himself and gave him possession of the astrologer’s tower and the proper title, giving him the same salary as the previous fortuneteller received. Thus, thanks to horseflies and a gadfly, the peasant became the king’s friend, to the envy of all the courtiers.

Finns love themselves

Finns love themselves in a way that few nations love themselves. In general, there are few peoples who love themselves, and the Finns are one of them. In the consciousness of most peoples there is a certain ideal image of their own, or one attributed to the golden age in the past, and their own inconsistency with this image is acutely felt.

The Finns have almost no such dissatisfaction. Finn, in essence, does not need the highest sanction; he achieved his exceptional position in the world himself. This explains the Finns’ emphasized respect for themselves, which surprised many researchers. Finn behaves with dignity, never begs for tea, even avoids a hint of it, although he will not refuse to take an increase on occasion, he will not even mention it, and whether they add something to him at the time of payment or not, he will equally thank him when he receives the agreed upon fee.

Finn depends extremely little on the team. A Finnish peasant lives on a farm. He does not often communicate with his neighbors, is closed in the family circle and does not see any particular need to open this circle. After Sunday lunch the owner will not go to visit. And why would he run away from home? His wife is his best friend, his children respect him. Finn is almost entirely focused on himself. His eyes, sometimes beautiful and expressive, look somehow into themselves, he is closed and silent. Finn goes to fight nature one-on-one.

Still at the end XVIII century Finland was called the land of sorcerers. The sorcerers themselves firmly believed in their art and, as a rule, passed it on to their children, which is why it was considered the property of entire families.

Enchant nature to conquer

Since ancient times, the Finns considered the greatest wisdom to be knowledge of the hidden forces of nature, believing that a word can force nature to act as a person pleases. The wiser a person is, the stronger the influence of his words on the surrounding nature, the more it is subject to him. Since ancient times, the Finns were more famous than others for their sorcerers. The Finns tried to bewitch nature and thus conquer it. This is one of the adequate expressions of the content inherent in the Finn’s consciousness. A sorcerer is like a superman. He is lonely and proud. He is closed in and on himself. He can go out to duel with nature. His goal is to force the alien forces of nature to obey his word, his desire.

The Finns' relationship with God is almost contractual. They are ordered and extremely rationalized. Lutheranism is a purely individual religion. There is no conciliarity in it, everyone is on his own. There is no mysticism in it either. Its instructions are strict and simple. The liturgical rite is strict and simple. A person must work. Must be a respectable family man, raise children, help the poor. The Finn does all this with the greatest diligence. But in this very correctness and moderation passion shines through. This rationality itself takes on magical features.

The goal of conquering nature was and remains the main content of the Finn’s consciousness. Finn, even in our time, continues to recognize himself as a lone fighter, obliging everything to himself and counting on own strength or God, but not on God's mercy and pity, but on God as a reliable collaborator with whom the Finn enters into a contract, pledging to lead a virtuous life in exchange for His protection.

Finn follows the contract to the letter. His religious life is very correct and orderly. It was considered an unforgivable crime for a Finn to miss a church service. Even at the post station there was a sign with the rule: “No one, except in extreme need, has the right to demand a horse and travel during worship on Sundays.”

The ability to read is considered a religious duty by Finns. After all, every Lutheran must know the text of Holy Scripture and be able to interpret it. Therefore, literacy in Finland was already 100% in the 20th century.

Finns read everywhere: in cafes and on trains. It is the Finnish character that can explain the Finns’ love for the harsh and uncompromising poetry of Joseph Brodsky. It is this poet who enjoys incredible success in the Land of Blue Lakes.

Laugh at yourself

This is another feature of the Finnish character. It turns out that Finns love jokes about themselves. And they willingly compose them themselves. And when they meet, they exchange new products. And this can also be seen as a healthy start. People who can laugh at themselves are truly capable of great things. Finns can even joke about their favorite sauna. “The sauna can be used by anyone who can reach it.”

Here are a few anecdotal stories that have become a kind of classic of the genre.

Three Finn brothers are sitting fishing on the Gulf of Finland. Morning, the sun begins to rise, the younger brother says: “Nah kluyett.”

Well, it’s already day, the sun is high...

The middle brother says: “Taa, it just won’t bite.”

Well, it’s already evening, the sun has already set, well, the older brother says:

You chat a lot and it gets bitten...

Raaime, are you married?

Naette, I'm not married.

But the guys have kaaltso on the paaltz!

ABOUT! Already married! How letitt frammyaya!

Toivo means hope

Finnish names... do they mean something? Finnish names adopted in the Lutheran Finnish calendar are heterogeneous in their origin. Ancient, pagan names occupy a significant place. These are names that still retain a connection with the words from which they originated.

For example: Ainikki (the only one), Armas (beloved), Arvo (dignity, honor), Ilma (air), Into (inspiration), Kauko (distance), Lempi (love), Onni (happiness), Orvokki (violet), Rauha (peace), Sikka (grasshopper), Sulo (lovely), Taimi (sprout), Taisto (struggle), Tarmo (energy, strength), Toivo (hope), Uljas (brave), Urho (hero, hero), Vuokko ( snowdrop).

Another part of the names was borrowed from Germanic and some other peoples. But these borrowed names have undergone such significant linguistic processing on Finnish soil that they are now perceived as originally Finnish, although they are not associated with any meaning.

With Finnish surnames the situation is different. All Finnish surnames are formed from native Finnish significant words. Surnames foreign origin recognized by native speakers as foreign.

Finnish given names are placed before the surname. Very often, a child is given two or even three names at birth. The names preceding the surname are not declined - only the surname changes. For example: Toivo Letinen (Toivo Lehtinen) - Toivo Lehtiselle (Toivo Lehtinen). The emphasis in names, as in Finnish in general, falls on the first syllable.

It is interesting to know which Finnish names correspond to Russian ones. In fact, there aren't that many of them. For example, names such as Akhti or Aimo have no correspondence in the Russian language. But the name Antti corresponds to the Russian name Andrey.

Let's list a few more Finnish names along with their Russian counterparts: Juhani - Ivan, Marty - Martyn, Matti - Matvey, Mikko - Mikhail, Niilo - Nikolay, Paavo - Pavel, Pauli - Pavel, Pekka - Peter, Pietari - Peter, Santeri - Alexander, Simo - Semyon, Vikhtori - Victor. The women's list will be as follows: Annie - Anna, Helena - Elena. Irene - Irina, Katri - Ekaterina, Leena - Elena, Liisa - Elizaveta, Marta - Martha.

The Russian language has close ties with Finnish, or more precisely, with the group of Finno-Ugric languages. It so happened historically that the lands of northern Rus' (and then Muscovy) were practically surrounded by peoples who spoke Finno-Ugric languages. This includes the Baltic region, and the northeastern forests, near the Arctic Circle, and the Urals, and many nomadic tribes that lived in the southern steppes.

To this day, linguists argue about which words passed from whom to whom. For example, there is a version that the word “tundra”, which passed into the Russian language, comes from the Finnish word “tunturi”. But with the rest of the words, everything is far from so simple. Russian word Does "boot" come from the Finnish word "saappaat" or vice versa?

Aphorism boom in Finland

Of course, there are proverbs and sayings in Finland. Books are also published in which these proverbs are collected.

The sauna is a pharmacy for the poor. Sauna öä apteekki.

One's own land is strawberries, someone else's land is blueberries. Oma maa mansikka; muu maa mustikka.

The Finns honor not only folk wisdom, but also modern wisdom, that is, aphorisms. In Finland there is an association that unites authors working in the aphorism genre. They publish books and anthologies. They have their own website on the Internet (.aforismi.vuodatus.).

The 2011 anthology “Tiheiden ajatusten kirja” (Close to thoughts on paper) contains aphorisms from 107 authors. Every year in Finland there is a competition for best author aphorisms (competition named after Samuli Paronen). Not only writers, poets, journalists, but also people of other professions take part in this competition. It can be said without any exaggeration that all of Finland is passionate about both reading aphorisms and composing them. It is with great pleasure that we introduce the works of modern authors of aphorisms.

Every person is the architect of his own happiness. And if someone wants to forge eternal chains for themselves, then this is their personal right. Paavo Haavikko

The most common type of classification: me and the rest. Torsti Lehtinen

When you become very old, you are not afraid to be young. Helena Anhava

Slowness (slowness) is the soul of pleasure. Markku Envall

Don't confuse God's sycophants with angels. Eero Suvilehto

It is very possible that some modern Finnish aphorisms will go among the people and become proverbs.

Statistics

Christian Carpelan,
Licentiate in Archeology and Research Fellow at the University of Helsinki.
From the book "Finnish Features", ed. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Press and Culture. Original: http://sydaby.eget.net/swe/jp_finns.htm
Translated from English by V.K.

Recently, cytogeneticists made a revolution with their “stunning” discovery regarding the origin of the Finnish and Sami peoples. Cytogenetics, however, is by no means a new tool for bioanthropological research. Already in the 1960s and 70s, Finnish researchers made important discovery, that only one quarter of the Finnish gene pool is of Siberian origin, and three quarters is of European origin. The Sami, however, have a different gene pool: a mixture of distinctly Western as well as Eastern elements. If we take the genetic connections between the peoples of Europe, the Sami will be separate group, and other Ural peoples also have a different genetic composition.

Bioanthropology: in search of our genetic roots

Humans inherit the genetic material contained in the mitochondria of the egg cytoplasm (mitochondrial DNA) from their mother because the DNA molecules in sperm are destroyed after fertilization. Since the 1980s, studies of mitochondrial DNA have allowed scientists to establish the biological connections and origins of human populations by tracing their maternal origins. DNA research confirms that Homo sapiens appeared in Africa about 150,000 years ago. From there modern man spread further and explored new territories, eventually inhabiting almost all continents.

Another fact confirmed by DNA research is that there is only minor genetic difference between the peoples of Europe, including the Finns. Mitochondrial DNA studies have shown the presence of a "Western" component in the genetic make-up of the Finns. Meanwhile, studies of the egg nucleus show that Finnish genes differ to some extent from other Europeans. This apparent contradiction stems from the fact that the genetic variations exhibited by mitochondrial DNA are of much older origin—tens of thousands of years older—than that of the egg cell nucleus, whose genetic age is only a few thousand years.

Sami mystery

DNA studies show that the genetic make-up of the Sami and Samoyeds is significantly different from each other and from other Europeans. In the case of the Samoyeds, this is not surprising, since they migrated to northeastern Europe from Siberia only at the beginning of the Middle Ages. It is interesting, however, that the mitochondrial DNA of the Sami is so different from other European peoples. The "Sami motif" discovered by the researchers - a combination of three specific genetic mutations - is present in more than a third of the Sami examined and in only six other samples, one Finnish and five Karelian. This raises the question of whether the ancestors of modern Sami lived in genetic isolation at some stage of their evolution.

DNA researchers classify the Finns as Indo-Europeans, or carriers of the Western gene pool. But since "Indo-European" is a linguistic term, it is misleading in the broader context of bioanthropology. DNA researchers work on time scales of tens of thousands of years, while development Indo-European languages, like all European groups of languages, is limited to a much shorter period of time. DNA researchers, however, argue that the Finno-Ugric population absorbed an influx of migrating Indo-European farming communities ("Indo-European" - both genetically and linguistically). The aliens changed the original genetic makeup of the Finno-Ugric population, but adopted their language. This is the only way DNA researchers explain the origins of the Finns. The Sami, however, are a much older population, according to DNA researchers, and their origins have yet to be definitively established.

Philology: in search of our linguistic roots

Language is one of the defining characteristics of an ethnic group. To a large extent, the ethnic identity of Finns and Sami can be determined based on the languages ​​they speak. The Finns speak a language of the Uralic family, as do the Sami, Estonians, Maris, Ostyaks, Samoyeds and various other ethnic groups. With the exception of the Hungarians, the languages ​​of the Uralic family are spoken exclusively by peoples living in the forest and tundra zone, stretching from Scandinavia to western Siberia. All Uralic languages ​​descend from a common proto-language, but over the centuries they have formed various branches. The exact origin and geographical area of ​​the Uralic proto-language, however, remains a point of academic debate.

Initially, it was believed that the Uralic, or Finno-Ugric, proto-language arose in a narrow region in eastern Russia. Linguistic differentiation was believed to have occurred as the Proto-Uralic peoples migrated along various routes. According to this theory, our ancient Finnish ancestors came to Finnish soil, gradually migrating westward.

When the truth of this theory was questioned, others emerged. One such theory claims that the homeland of the Uralic proto-language is in continental Europe. According to this theory, the linguistic evolution that gave rise to the Sami language occurred when European settlements spread to Fennoscandia. Our ancient Finnish ancestors became "Indo-Europeanized Sami" under the influence - demographic, cultural and linguistic - of the Baltic and Germanic peoples.

The "contact theory" suggests that the proto-languages ​​of today's language families were formed by convergence caused by close contacts between speakers of originally different languages: the idea of ​​a common linguistic homeland is thus inconsistent with it. According to a recent version of the contact theory, the Uralic proto-language was formed in this way among peoples living at the edges of the continental glacier, stretching from the Atlantic to the Urals, while the Indo-European language developed correspondingly further to the south. The Indo-European peoples then mastered the art of agriculture and gradually began to spread throughout Europe. At the same time, Indo-European languages ​​began not only to displace the Uralic ones, but also to significantly influence the development of those that had not yet been superseded.

However, many linguists believe that the Uralic languages ​​have so much in common in their basic structures - grammar and vocabulary - that these similarities cannot be convincingly explained by the interaction of unrelated groups of languages ​​over such a wide geographical area. On the contrary, we must assume that they have a common place of origin, from where they received their characteristics and from where they began to spread geographically: as the area expanded, speakers of other languages ​​who found themselves within its boundaries may have lost their original language in favor of Proto-Uralic. The same applies to the Indo-European family of languages.

Archeology reveals the age of ancient settlements

Archaeological evidence shows that Homo sapiens first settled in Europe between 40,000 and 35,000 BC. BC e. These early settlers may have shared a common gene pool. Genetic mutations such as the "Sami motif" have occurred for centuries, but have not recurred. Of course, the ancestors of modern Sami must have lived in sufficient genetic isolation for this random mutation to persist.

Homo sapiens first arrived in Europe during the relative warming of the Ice Age. Between 20,000 and 16,000 BC e. a cold snap forced the settlers to retreat south. Central Europe was depopulated, as was the region of the Oka and Kama rivers. After this peak of cold, the climate became more moderate, but with occasional cold snaps. Gradually, people began to return to the areas they left several thousand years ago. Meanwhile, the ice cap was rapidly retreating to the north, opening up new territory for settlement. The Ice Age came to an end along with a dramatic change in climate around 9500 BC. e. Average annual temperatures are estimated to have risen by as much as seven degrees over several decades. What remained of the continental glacier disappeared over the next thousand years.

Climate warming has been followed by radical changes in environment. The tundra, formerly covered by the glacier, now became forest, and instead of the wild deer that previously roamed the outskirts of the glacier, elk appeared. Transition from Paleolithic to Mesolithic around 8000 BC. e. was a stage marked by human efforts to adapt to changes in the environment. This was the period when the Ural peoples settled in the regions northern Europe where we find them today.

Scandinavia is settled by continental Europeans

During the Ice Age, a significant proportion of the world's water supply was locked up in continental glaciers. Because sea levels were much lower than today, large areas earth's surface, which are now underwater, were once inhabited coastal areas. An example is the North Sea area between England and Denmark: underwater finds show that this area was the site of human settlement at the end of the Ice Age.

Norwegian archaeologists believe that the first settlers to leave this "North Sea Continent" were communities of sea fishermen who quickly advanced along the Norwegian coast to the Finnmark area and the Rybachy Peninsula no later than 9000 BC. e. Many archaeologists previously believed that the earliest settlers of the Finnmark coast, representing the Komsa culture, migrated there from Finland, eastern Europe or Siberia. However, recent archaeological evidence does not support this theory.

The pioneers, who settled on the coast of Norway, gradually moved inland to northern Sweden and may also have reached the northern regions of Finnish Lapland. Around 6000 BC e. a second wave of migrants from Germany and Denmark moved north through Sweden and eventually also reached northern Lapland. The Norwegian coast remained inhabited by the original settlers, but the original population of northern Scandinavia was a melting pot of two different peoples. Does the fact that the "Sami motif" is limited to a specific area of ​​northern Scandinavia mean that the mutation occurred not before, but after northern Scandinavia became populated?

Burial finds have shown that the Late Paleolithic settlers of central Europe and their Mesolithic descendants on the Scandinavian Peninsula were Caucasians with fairly large teeth - a perhaps humorous detail, but an important factor in identifying these populations. Although the language of these settlers is unlikely to ever be discovered, I see no basis for the theory that any of these groups spoke a Uralic proto-language.

Eastern Europe: "melting pot"

If we now turn to the early settlements of north-eastern Europe, their history is more complex than that of Scandinavia, for the peoples who settled there seem to have come from several different directions.

The Paleolithic peoples of southern Russia originally inhabited the steppes, but as the Ice Age came to an end, the eastern steppes became arid and barren. Central Russia, meanwhile, was abundantly overgrown with forests, providing a more favorable environment for life than the scorched steppes. The Paleolithic settlements of the Don River were apparently deserted when their communities moved into the area of ​​the Oka and Kama rivers. Archaeological finds in the late Paleolithic settlements of central Russia, however, provide more indirect than solid evidence for this theory.

At the end of the Ice Age, the eastern parts of southern Russia were a sparsely populated wasteland, but in the west, in the region of the Dnieper River, Paleolithic culture flourished. From there, residents migrated to the forest belt of central Russia. As the late Paleolithic peoples of Poland, Lithuania and western Belarus adapted to forest life, they also began moving into central Russia. At the beginning of the Mesolithic, three peoples of different origins competed for subsistence within the same region of central Russia.

As the northern coniferous forests (or taiga belt) spread north, this mixture of settlers followed, eventually reaching latitude 65 around 7000 BC. e. After this, they began to inhabit the northern outskirts of Europe. On the Northern Cap of Fennoscandia, the "border" was between peoples who migrated north through Scandinavia and those who migrated through Finland and Karelia. Russian archaeologists, in turn, also see no evidence of Paleolithic or Mesolithic migration westward from Siberia.

Two various types skulls, Caucasoid and Mongoloid, were discovered during excavations of Mesolithic burials in northeastern Europe. The two types of skull have been seen as support for the theory that an early group of settlers migrated to Europe from Siberia. A "Siberian" element found in Finnish genes is believed to provide further support for this claim, but this theory appears dubious due to a lack of archaeological evidence.

According to more modern theories, the two types of skull found in Mesolithic burials do not suggest the presence of two different populations, as previously thought, but rather indicate high degree genetic variation within the same population. In general, the peoples of the northeast were very different from the peoples of the west. The decisive difference lies in the teeth.

Eastern Europeans have small teeth compared to the relatively large teeth of Scandinavians, a feature that stems from an old genetic difference. Ancient skulls tell us that the early settlers of eastern Europe were mainly descendants of an ancient eastern European population that lived in long isolation from the Scandinavians. Perhaps the "Siberian" element in the Finnish genes is actually Eastern European in origin?

The Sami also have relatively small teeth, which is considered evidence that they are descendants of the small-toothed Mesolithic population of eastern Europe. Archaeological and genetic data, however, cannot support this theory. Are the Sami's small teeth a result of isolation, or is it a later genetic trait? If we choose the latter alternative, we must presumably consider the contributing role of those settlers who migrated into the Sami region from the northern parts of Finland and eastern Karelia. There is archaeological evidence of such a northern movement in the Bronze and early Iron Ages.

Does the Uralic proto-language come from Eastern Europe?

How then should we explain the fact that Finnish belongs to the Uralic group of languages? I believe that the development of modern European languages ​​began in the Paleolithic, as a stage of adaptation to the socio-economic changes that arose at the end of the Ice Age. My theory is that the Uralic proto-language has its roots in Eastern Europe, where, after a period of expansion that followed Ice Age, it became the common language of a portion of the Eastern European population, eventually displacing all other languages ​​that appeared in the area.

When settlement began in earnest, Mesolithic cultures arose between the Baltic Sea and the Ural Mountains, in which the Uralic proto-language began to split into various branches. In my opinion, the archaeological evidence of later movements and waves of influence indicates that the linguistic development of the Uralic languages ​​did not follow the classical "family tree" model: the term "genealogical bush" proposed by linguists would be a more appropriate metaphor.

The early settlements of northern Finland were founded by an original population of eastern Europeans who migrated as far north as the Arctic Circle. The early Finnish proto-language - the "grandfather" of the Baltic-Finnish and Sami languages ​​- dates back to the period of the spread of the "Comb Pottery" culture throughout the region around 4000 BC. e. Proto-Saami and Proto-Finnish languages ​​diverged when the "Battle Axe" or "Cord Ware" culture entered southwestern Finland around 3000 BC. e. This linguistic differentiation lasted for Bronze Age around 1500 BC e., when the Scandinavians began to have a noticeable influence on the region and its language, which explains, in particular, the appearance of Proto-Baltic and Proto-Germanic borrowings.

From here the development of the Proto-Finnish language and, further, the differentiation of the Baltic-Finnish languages ​​began. The linguistic evolution leading to the emergence of the Proto-Sami language took place in the eastern, northern and inland regions of Finland, where Baltic and Germanic influence was weak and Eastern European influence was comparatively strong. As generally accepted colloquial and the language of trade, Proto-Saami spread from the Kola Peninsula to Jämtland with the onset of the late Iron and Bronze Age migrations.

I believe, therefore, that the peoples inhabiting Norrland and the polar region changed their original language - whatever it was - to Proto-Saami in the Bronze Age. The modern Sami thus come from a different gene pool and a significantly different cultural environment than the original "proto-Sami" who later merged with the rest of the Finnish people. Our early Finnish ancestors did not change their language, but they did change their identity as they evolved from hunters to farmers during the Corded Ware period and the influence of the Scandinavian Bronze Age.