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Conference turris::scandia

Title:	All about Scandinavia

Moderator:	TLE::SAVAGE

Created:	Wed Dec 11 1985
Last Modified:	Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	603
Total number of notes:	4325

322.0. "Saarinen means what in Finnish?" by EXIT26::SAARINEN () Thu Mar 09 1989 11:38

    I am of 100% Finnish stock. My Father is a "Saarinen" and
    my mother is a "Ahola". Both my grandparents came over from
    Finland in the 1900's from the Helsinki area.
    
    I never got to learn Finnish at home because my parents only
    spoke it when they didn't want me to understand what they
    were saying, or spoke it only at Family gatherings.
    
    But I had a question about my last name "Saarinen" and what
    it meant in Finnish. I was told that Saarinen in Finnish meant
    "Man with Long Tall Spindly Legs". If that is the case, it fits
    me to a 6'3" tee.        
    
    Can any of you Finnish speaking Finns out there tell me what 
    Saarinen means in Finnish?
                                         
    I'd appreciate it, and thanks in advance!
    
    -Arthur

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
322.1		BHAJEE::JAERVINEN	ORA, the Old Rural Amateur	`Fri Mar 10 1989 04:17`	19
	re .25: >I was wondering what Saarinen meant in Finnish. I heard that it >meant "Man with Long Spindly Legs"...if that's the case, it fits my Well not exactly... Last names ending in -nen are very common in Finnish (see my username...). The body of the word usually means something (saari = island, j�rvi = lake); the ending -nen can be used in some cases to form a diminutive (like tytt� = girl, tytt�nen = little girl) but no one would call a little island saarinen. So actually your name doesn't mean much... As it happens, if you put those little dots on the a's in 'saari' making it 's��ri', the word would mean a leg. But I've never heard of anyone called S��rinen... and at best it would mean little legs.
322.2	Re: -1 (Thanks!)	EXIT26::SAARINEN		`Fri Mar 10 1989 10:38`	6
	re: -1 Thanks, I appreciate the Finnish Language Lesson...and for you taking the time to reply. -Arthur
322.3		KIPPIS::BACKSTROM	Petri B�ckstr�m - FS/CO/SSG=TSC	`Thu Mar 16 1989 17:44`	4
	Oh, this discussion seems to proceed in two topics; I gave my �2 in the earlier one. ...Petri
322.4	Saarinen - islandy ?	BHAJEE::JAERVINEN	ORA, the Old Rural Amateur	`Wed Mar 29 1989 10:59`	6
	So I'll respond here to your reply in 24.?? You're right of course about the other meaning of the -nen ending - both explanations are a bit artificial though, I don't think anyone would call a lake with islands a 'saarinen j�rvi'.