Finno ugric language

Submitted by the Grand Infidel of Kaffiristan (Australia), Mar 10, 2009 at 05:19

Terve, Ugri

You write:
"A funny thing about Finnish and Hungarian (both Fenno-Ugric languages) : if a Finn hears someone speak Hungarian (from a distance of 15 meters) he could swear somebody is speaking his mother tongue. Actually there are only a few words common to both languages."

On a flight from Vantaa to Frankfurt I met a Finnish linguistics guy. He told me that there is only one word in Hungarian that is spelled the same way as it is in Finnish. But the meaning of the word in Finnish is exactly opposite to what it means in Hungarian.

I guess if you are a native Finnish speaker it must colour your perceptions. I can hear the difference between Finnish and Hungarian from 15 metres. I can also tell the difference between Finnish and Estonian from 15 metres.

Keeping things in context a little - I noticed more Hari Krishnas in Tallinn than Muslims in 2005. Is it the same in Helsinki?

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