[ End of article ]
(Author's summary. -This study describes briefly the process by which Finnish Given Names have been modified and changed to meet the phonological conditions in the New World. It is an companion article to the writer's article referred to in note 1.)
A CURIOUS phenomena in modern languages is the mutation of immigrant given and surnames in the interests of the dominant American phonological pattern. Like the Swedes, Czechs, and others,1 many of the Finnish immigrants have tried to mitigate in various ways and degrees the crudeness of their Old World cognomens. A smaller number of them have, for resons easy to understand, taken liberties with their ancestral names; more than 500 of the 793 foreign-born male Finns listed in a well-known biographical collection, for example, have retained their patronymics without change.2 On the other hand, 675 of the 1087 Finnish residents, male and female, foreign- and native-born, listed in a Chicago yearbook of 1973,3 had modified or dropped their Finnish giveb names in favor of American apellations. The nature and mechanics of these latter cognomial rewvisions is the subject of this paper.
The phonology of Finnish given names has been beyound the reach of the Anglo-Saxon vocal organs. The vowels ä, ö, and y (as in Päiviö, Wäinö, and Yrjö), consonant j (Jaakkina and Uljas), and such letter combinations as aa (Aake), ai (Mainio), au (Lauri), hj (Hjalmari), ie (Mielikki), ii (Siiri), kyl (Kyllikki), lyy (Lyyli), oi (Oiva), tyy (Tyyne), uo (Tuovi), ur (Urho), uu (Uuno), yr (Yrjö), etc., have been generally unmanageable by Americans. The hiatus was usually closed by the Finns who undertook ti fit their given names into the New World phonological scheme.This was most frequently achieved by anglicizing loan words, translating literally or transliterating others; only infrequently was recourse had to unintelligible substitution.
Since loan words abound in Finnish, a common form of adjustement occured through anglicization. In many cases the mechanics of the process was relatively simple: the addition or substitution of the consonants b, c, f, q, x, and z, which are not found in the Finnish alphabet; the dropping of a vowel or a consonant; the addition or dropping of an ending.4 In such a manner Aadam became Adam, Teodor to Theodore, Aleksanteri to Alexander, Rikhard to Richard, etc. Sometimes the rendition into English was more complicated: Ilmari to Elmer, Yrjö to George, Paaveli to Paul. A list of common loan words and their English equivalents follows:
| Aadam - Adam | Kustaa - August |
| Aleksanteri - Alexander | Liisa - Elizabeth |
| Antti - Andrew | Lilja - Lillian |
| Dorotea - Dorothy | Maiju - Mary |
| Eemeli - Emil | Martti - Martin |
| Elli - Ellen | Matias, Matteus - Matthew |
| Heikki - Henry | Matti - Matt |
| Helli - Helen | Mirjam - Mariam |
| Ilmari - Elmer | Olavi - Olaf |
| Jaakko - Jacob | Oskari - Oscar |
| Jani, Johan, Jussi, Jukka - John | Paaveli, Paavo - Paul |
| Joosep - Joseph | Taavetti - David |
| Kaarlo - Carl | Teodor - Theodore |
| Kalle - Charles | Tuomas - Thomas |
| Karolina - Caroline | Rikhard - Richard |
| Käsperi - Casper | Vihtori - Victor |
| Katrina - Katharine | Viljo - William |
| Kerttu - Gertrude | Yrjö - George |
| Klaara - Clara |
Less frequently are Finnish given names literally translated or transliterated. The difficulties of the former are apparent in such cognomens as Aate (Spirit), Ilta (Night), Lahja (Gift), Onni (Luck), Rauha (Peace), Sirkka (Cricket), Toivo (Hope, masculine!). However, a few names as Ruusu (Rose) and Usko (Faith) are susceptible of literal translation and often appear thus. Transliteration occurs: Aune to Ann, Mauri to Maurice, Niilo to Niles, Reino to Raymond, Siiri to Sara, Wäinö to Wayne.
Despite the presence of a large number of loan words and the utilization of the devices of translation and transliteration, there remains a considerable body of names that resist modification. Among them may be noted Inkeri, Jaakkina, Kyllikki, Kullervo, Mielikki, Oihonna, Pärttyli, Tuulikki, Vellamo, etc. The possessor of such unpronouncible terminology usually (1) retained the name without change, thus assuring to himself incessant embarrassment; (2) substituted for it any English name that might have struck his fancy; (3) sought refuge by using only his initials. Happily, many of them have refused to renounce their picturesque Finnish names.
There is no doubt, however, but that the original Finnish given name has suffered immensely in the New World. Loan words have been universally rendered into English; other cognomens have been translated or transliterated to fit into the dominant phonological pattern. Finnophiles can point with pride to only a very small minority of Finns who have retained without change their Old Country given names.
References
1 A number of interesting studies have appeared on immigrant names. See, among others, H. L. Mencken, The American Language (1936), pp. 474-554; J. B. Dudek, "The Americanization of Czech Given and Surnames", American Speech, I (1925-26), 18-22, 161-166; R. W. Swanson, "The Swedish Surname in America", ibid., III (1927-28), 468-477. See also the author's "Finnish Surnames in America", in American Speech, XIV (1939), 33-39.
2 Werner Nikander, Amerikan Suomalaisia, Muotokuvia and Lyhyitä Elämäkerrallisia Tietoja (1927), passim.
3 G. Kulo (compiler), Suur-Chicagon Suomalaisten Vuosikirja (1937), passim.
4 See author's "The Finnicisation of English in America", American Sociological Review, II, (1937), 62-66. The Finnish alphabet of twenty-one letters has eight wovels (a, ä, e, i, o, ö, u, and y) and thirteen consonants (d, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v [interchangeable with w]).
Published in The Modern Language Journal 24(1939), p. 179-180.