Finnish for busy people

Finnish South Ostrobothnian dialect – Etelä-Pohjanmaan murre

Hi! I’m Josh, a non-native learner of Finnish from the UK. When I was a wee bit under a year into learning Finnish, I fell down a rabbit hole of speaking in a very particular way: in the South Ostrobothnian dialect – Eteläpohjanmaan murre. More than a year and a half later, I’m yet to have found a way back to the standard language, and I’ve come to adore this dialect and study it intensely. Very kindly, Inge has even agreed for me to write an article about it here on her website! So here goes…

1. Background

The South Ostrobothnian dialect (Etelä-Pohjanmaan murre) is a dialect (murre) of the Finnish language, spoken mostly in the region (maakunta) of South Ostrobothnia (Etelä-Pohjanmaa), as well as some parts of coastal Ostrobothnia (Pohjanmaa) and the municipality (kunta) of Karvia in Satakunta.

It is one of Finland’s so-called Western dialects (länsimurteet) and is notable for having relatively clear geographical boundaries (that is, you’ll definitely know whether you’re in a South Ostrobothnian -speaking region or not) and being more internally consistent (yhtenäinen) than most other Finnish dialects, which form a more varied continuum. For this reason, the terms “dialect” and “dialects” are used interchangeably, which is highly unusual for other regional varieties of Finnish.

That said, there are still some differences depending on where in South Ostrobothnia you are. As I’m most familiar with how the dialect is spoken in Seinäjoki, the regional capital (maakunnan pääkaupunki) of South Ostrobothnia, I have tended to focus on variants of the dialect found in the vicinity of Seinäjoki: that is, as it is spoken in Seinäjoki itself, in Lapua, in Ilmajoki and in “Kyrö” (by which I mean both Kyrönmaa and Isokyrö).

South Ostrobothnia and its dialect have perhaps the strongest reputation (maine) and image (mielikuva) in Finnish culture of any region. In the 19th century, it was associated with lawlessness (laittomuus) and knife-wielding desperados (häjy, puukkojunkkari). The region has long been associated with arable farming (peltoviljely) due to its flat plains (lakeus) making it suitable for agriculture (maanviljely). South Ostrobothnians (eteläpohjalainen) are generally seen as strong-willed (vahvatahtoinen), entrepreneurial (yritteliäs), direct (suorapuheinen), though sometimes brazen (röyhkeä) and rednecklike (juntti).

2. Phonological features

2.1 Epenthesis – epenteesi

Vowel epenthesis (epenteesi), also known as anaptyxis (anaptyksis), is the insertion of a schwa vowel (svaavokaali) into a word, usually to aid pronunciation. In South Ostrobothnian dialects, this occurs only in certain consonant clusters and only after a stressed syllable (painollinen tavu). This is almost always between the first and second syllable.

Vowel epenthesis can definitely occur in:

  • Most clusters containing -l-, such as -lm-, -lv- and -lk-;
  • Most clusters containing -h-, such as -hn-, -hd-, -hj- and -hm-.

Note in the table that -d- becomes -r- in South Ostrobothnia, so -hd- becomes -hr- and so on. This is discussed in section 2.5.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
kylmä kyly kahden kaharen
ilmainen ilimaanen kohdata kohorata
alkaa alakaa tehdä tehe
ulkoa ulukua ehdin eherin
lahja lahaja tyhmä tyhy
ulvoa uluvua ihminen ihiminen
Vowel epenthesis exceptions

Vowel epenthesis does not occur in:

  1. clusters of the same consonant, such as -tt- or -rr-;
  2. clusters containing -t- such as -lt- or -ht-;
  3. clusters containing -s- such as -ks- or -rs-;
  4. the clusters -hk- and -lj-;
  5. the cluster -nh-, though “vanaha” for “vanha” is increasingly attested.

Epenthesis is more pronounced in the dialects of Seinäjoki, Lapua and especially Ilmajoki. In Kyrö, it is somewhat more subtle, and occasionally speakers will insert a schwa-vowel of the type of the following syllable, rather than the preceding one, e.g. kylämä instead of kylymä.

2.2. Vowel changes: diphthong loosening

Certain diphthongs (diftongi), or more specifically vowel sequences (vokaaliyhtymä) can become widened (avartua) a.k.a. loosened (väljentyä). When we say a vowel widens or loosens, it means that the tongue is held further from the roof of the mouth when pronouncing the vowel. This can mean that the vowel moves from being close (suppea) to being open (väljä). In South Ostrobothnia, the vowel sequences -oa-, -öä-, -uo-, -yö-, -ie- and -eA- become -ua-, -yä-, -ua-, -yä-, -iA- and -iA- respectively, due to this diphthong loosening.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
rohkea rohkia sanoa sanua
ylp ylyp tön tön
kotoa kotua suomen kieli suamen kli
valkea valakia suppea suppia
tietää ttää lähtöä läht

The -UO/UA- change is however not observed further south in South Ostrobothnia; it is not attested in the municipalities (kunnat) around Alavus, Ähtäri and the Suupohja.

2.3. Vowel changes: diphthong straightening

In unstressed (painoton) syllables, vowel sequences (vokaaliyhtymä) of the form -Vi- change.  The sequence undergoes straightening (oikeneminen) such that -Vi- becomes -VV-.

This can sometimes make the forms ambiguous, since the imperfect third person singular of certain verbs then looks the same as the present tense, like for sanoa as shown in the table: hän sanoo could equally mean “(s)he says” or “(s)he said” in South Ostrobothnia.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
keltainen keltaanen alkoivat alakoovat
poikain poikaan sanoi sanoo
lyijyinen lyijyynen kirjoittaa kirioottaa
aikuinen aikuunen epäröit epärööt
annoin annoon hätiköi hätiköö

This differs from more mainstream colloquial Finnish, particularly dialects closer to Uusimaa and the Helsinki region, where the -i- tends instead to be dropped altogether. For instance, the suffix -kaltainen is often –kaltaanen in the South Ostrobothnian dialect, but –kaltanen in Uusimaa.

2.4. Vowel changes: –tOn → –tOOn

The negating suffix -tOn lengthens in the South Ostrobothnian dialect to –tOOn. This is really the Proto-Finnic form tOin. In standard Finnish, the –i– from –tOin disappeared, while in South Ostrobothnia the –Oi– diphthong has undergone straightening rather than just disappearing, as discussed in section 2.3.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
ajaton ajatoon tekemätön tekemätöön
järjetön järietöön puhumaton puhumatoon
ääretön ääretöön kuolematon kualematoon
syytön syytöön näkymätön näkymätöön
aiheeton aihehetoon loppumaton loppumatoon
avuton avutoon kysymätön kysymätöön
ehdoton eherotoon tuntematon tuntematoon
harmiton harmitoon uskomaton uskomatoon

This lengthening of the –O– only takes place when the preceding –t– is in the weak grade; namely, in the nominative singular, partitive singular and the genitive plural ending –ten. Otherwise, the inflected forms have the same endings as in the standard language. For example, in the standard language ajaton becomes ajattomat in the nominative plural. In South Ostrobothnia, the nominative singular is ajatoon, but the plural is still ajattomat; there is no ajattoomat.

2.5. Consonant changes: –d- → –r-

As discussed here, most dialects do not pronounce -d- as it is in standard Finnish. South Ostrobothnian dialects are no exception; –d- is instead –r-.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
tiedän tiärän unohdan unohran
lähden lähären soudan souran

2.6. Consonant changes: -ts- -tt-

Like in many dialects, particularly Western dialects (länsimurteet), -ts- can be replaced by -tt-. Be careful: -st- doesn’t change.

In South Ostrobothnia, this -tt- does not undergo consonant gradation when words like this get inflected. So for example, mettä becomes mettän in the genitive singular and mettästä in the elative singular, since in the standard language the –ts– wouldn’t gradate either. This is different to some other dialects, where the –tt– does in fact gradate to –t-.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
metsä mettä ets ett
vatsa vatta katsoa kattua

2.7. Consonant changes: preserved –h-

If we go back in the history of the Finnish language, we can trace the features of Finnish back to when it was only Proto-Finnic: the common ancestor of the Finnish, Estonian, Livonian and Karelian languages. From this we know, that certain words used to contain an -h-, which it has since largely disappeared. For example, we can reliably say that the word vene used to actually be veneh.

Nowadays, most Finns associate the preservation of the -h- with the dialects of Lapland (Lappi), but it has also mostly endured in South Ostrobothnia. It is preserved in:

Form Standard Dialect
illative (S-mihin) homeeseen homeesehen
illative (S-mihin) torniin tornihin
illative (S-mihin) puistoon puistohon
word ending in -e veneellä venehellä
word ending in -e terveet tervehet
word ending in -as hampaan hampahan
word ending in -as potilaalla potilahalla
word ending in -is kauniilta kaunihilta
word ending in -is saaliista saalihista
present passive mennään mennähän
present passive käydään käyrähän
passive imperfect mentiin mentihin
passive imperfect käytiin käytihin
passive conditional tehtäisiin tehtääsihin
passive conditional haluttaisiin haluttaasihin
NUT-participle tulleet tullehet
NUT-participle sanoneen sanonehen
NUT-participle puhuneelle puhunehelle
mA-participle kysymään kysymähän
mA-participle alkamaan alakamahan
mA-participle olemaan olemahan

You may ask why homeeseen becomes homeesehen rather than homehesehen, and why väsyneeseen became väsyneesehen rather than väsynehesehen. This is deliberate. The -h- has been partially deleted even in South Ostrobothnia in many people’s speech when it would be expected to appear. In my experience, people always drop the first -h- and opt to retain the final one, the one which arises due to the illative. I suppose homehesehen became too much of a mouthful even for the South Ostrobothnians. There are some historical sources (e.g. from 1871) where forms like this are mentioned as current features of the dialect, e.g. venehesehen.

2.8. Consonant changes: –j- → –i-

A lot of the time, words written with –j- in the standard language are pronounced as though they were written with –i-. This is why, as we noted in section 2.1, the consonant cluster -lj- doesn’t undergo epenthesis like many similar clusters, because it undergoes this consonant change instead.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
kirjoittaa kirioottaa harjoitus hariootus
rohjeta rohieta marjastus mariastus
öljy öliy harja haria
iljetä ilietä kalja kalia
sarja saria varjo vario
Exceptions to this tendency

The change from -j- to -i- doesn’t take place when:

  1. the –j- is the first letter of a word, such as in juntti;
  2. the –j- comes in the consonant cluster –hj-, which instead undergoes epenthesis (see section 2.1.), such as in lahja;
  3. the –j- follows a vowel, such as in äijä.
  4. Note this does not affect consonant gradation; rohieta still conjugates as rohkenen and so on.

2.9. More general spoken language features present in the South Ostrobothnian dialects

Here are some features which are present in the South Ostrobothnian dialects, but mostly because they are common features of spoken Finnish more widely:

  • Omitting the -i at the end of certain words: viisi → viis, olisi → olis
  • Omitting the -t/-n at the end of certain words: ottanut → ottanu, nyt → ny, kun → ku
  • Use of the me-passiivi: me menemme → me mennään (in addition to the dialectal form: menemmä)
  • Personal pronouns: minulle mulle, minun → mun, minua → mua

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3. Grammatical features

3.1. Inessive forms (S-missä)

The inessive case is marked in the standard language by the suffix -ssA. In South Ostrobothnian dialects, this does not have to be the case. The standard -ssA can often be replaced by the clipped suffix -s, though this is more rare in the last word of a clause, or in a word which the speaker chooses to stress.

3.1.1. Inessive with possessive suffixes

When a noun in the inessive also receives a possessive suffix, the historical marker -snA is used instead of -ssA or, much more rarely, -hnA.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
minun mielessäni mun miälesnäni sinun kodissasi sun korisnasi
hänen silmissään sen silimisnänsä minun kädessäni mun käresnäni
Proto-Uralic history of the location cases

This inessive case marking -snA is a remnant of Proto-Finnic. In Proto-Uralic, you only had three location cases: the olosija -nA (which meant “in”), the erosija -tA (which meant “from”) and the tulosija (which meant “to”, and has an marker that’s not a hundred percent certain, either -k, -n or -s, or a combination of the three, which developed into -ksi).

 

When Proto-Uralic started developing into Proto-Finnic, the marker -nA started to take on the meaning of the modern-day essive case. Thus, the inessive case (-ssA) was born to take over the base meaning of “in”. This was done by adding an -s- before -nA. For example, to say “in the nest”, you’d take pesä-s-nä. I’m not sure why this -snA marker only survived in combination with a possessive suffix in South Ostrobothnian dialects.

3.1.2. Additional exceptions

You may realise that these excptions are all instances of the rare -hnA inessive suffix, where the -hn- is broken up by an epenthesis (epenteesi). There’s some more discussion of this suffix (and about inessive suffices in general) on this webpage.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
missä mihinä ei missään ei mihinään
jossa johona jossakin johonaki(n)*

*the variant forms johnakuhna/johonakuhuna are considerably rarer but are also attested.

3.1.3. Inessive plural of words ending in -i

Words ending in -i in Kotus types 5 and 6 inflect differently in the inessive plural (monikon inessiivi). The plural inessive of these words ends in -iis(sA).

Noun Standard Dialect
tuoli tuoleissa tualiis
risti risteissä ristiis
koti kodeissa koriis
paperi papereissa paperiis
aateli aateleissa aateliis
imuri imureissa imuriis
ovi ovissa ovis(sa)
järvi järvissä järvis(sä)
kivi kivissä kivis(sä)

As you see in the table, words ending in -i which decline like ovi, i.e. those which belong to Kotus type 7, inflect in the inessive plural (monikon inessiivi) in the same way that they do in the standard language; ovi becomes ovissa and so on. This wordtype is the ones that have an -e- in a lot of their singular forms: e.g. ovi inflects as ovet, oven, ovessa and so on.

3.2. Adessive adverbs of location

The adverbs of location siellä, täällä and (less frequently) tuolla can often be replaced by siälä, täälä and tuala respectively. This is an example of syncope (sisäheitto), and is not used more widely outside these particular adverbs.

Also, be careful: tualla still exists in the sense of “tuolla on… – that person has…”; here the syncope does not take place. The syncopal “tuala” is strictly reserved for the adverbial form. So “that man, the one standing over there, has a peculiar name” is “tualla miähellä, joka tuala seisoo, on erikoonen nimi.

Standard Dialect
siellä siälä
täällä täälä
tuolla tuala

3.3. Genitive plural forms

The genitive plural (monikon genetiivi) form of certain types of nouns has two possibilities: –iden and –itten. Given that –itten is generally seen as the more dialectal of the two forms, it may be surprising that South Ostrobothnian dialects exclusively choose –iden. That said, remember from section 2.5, this will become -iren in our dialect, and from section 2.3. that unstressed diphthongs undergo straightening.

Word iden itten Dialect
työ iden itten iren
vapaa vapaiden vapaitten vapaaren
huone huoneiden huoneitten huaneeren
koe kokeiden kokeitten kokeeren
keittiö keittiöiden keittiöitten keittiöören
valmis valmiiden valmiitten valamihiren

3.4. Partitive plural forms: variant pattern

A variant dialectal partitive plural form for wordtype B words ending -e (hame-types), -as and -is (is-ii types) and NUT-participles evolved in South Ostrobothnia at some point alongside the standard –itA ending, of the form –hiA.

Word Standard Dialectal
kallis kalliita kallihia
vieras vieraita viarahia
maukas maukkaita maukkahia
kangas kankaita kankahia
hammas hampaita hampahia
tullut tulleita tullehia
palannut palanneita palannehia
vene veneitä venehiä
terve terveitä tervehiä
Proto-Finnic background explaining the dialectic -hiA

As seen in section 2.7, the -h- in these words is a remnant from old Proto-Finnic, which has disappeared from most of Finnish words and dialects, but has been preserved in the South Ostrobothnian dialect. As such, some people conjecture that the development of the words in the table above, has gone something like this:

  • The word kallis in standard Finnish can be reconstructed to the Proto-Finnic plural partitive form kallihita.
  • In standard Finnish, the -h- disappeared, giving us: kallihita → kalliita. This is where the development in standard Finnish ended.
  • In the South Ostrobothnian dialects, the -h- was preserved. Due to this preservation, the word went through a softening of the -t- into -δ- (similar to the th-sound in the English word “that”), as was typical for sounds in the third syllable and later, later followed by the -δ- completely disappearing from the Finnish language. As such, this gives up the following development: kallihita → kallihiδa → kallihia.

The same thing happened to the other word types in the table above.

  • The word vene for example went from venehitä to veneitä in standard Finnish (through the disappearance of the -h-), while in the South Ostrobothnian dialects, the development went like this: venehitä → venehiδä → venehiä.

3.5. Degrees of comparison: variations

3.5.1. Comparative adjectives

The nominative singular form of comparative adjectives differs from standard Finnish in the South Ostrobothnian dialects. The more recognisable –mpi ending is instead –VV(t), usually –ee(t). In the dialects of Lapua and Kyrö, the –ee form is preferred, whereas in those of Seinäjoki and Ilmajoki, –eet is more common.

Standard Lapua-Kyrö Seinäjoki-Ilmajoki
pidempi piree pireet
parempi paree pareet
yleisempi yleesee yleeseet
lyh(y)empi lyhee lyheet
tärkeämpi tärkiee tärkieet
innokkaampi innokkahee innokkaheet
kovempi kovee koveet
vahvempi vahavee vahaveet
halvempi halavee halaveet
mukavampi mukavee mukaveet
huonompi huanoo huanoot
kirotumpi kirotuu kirotuut

These variant patterns do not continue when the adjectives are further declined; the genitive singular of parempi (pareet) is paremman in the dialects as well, and so on.

3.5.2. Superlative forms

Most words use the superlative forms as they exist in standard Finnish. The word pitkä inflects as pitkä – piree(t) – pisin, and the word mukava inflects as mukava – mukavee(t) – mukavin. There are however three notable exceptions in South Ostrobothnia.

  • At some point in the history of the Finnish language, the superlative adjective parahin underwent a metathesis (metateesi), becoming parhain. This metathetic innovation superceded the older form when the standard Finnish language was constructed, but it is the older parahin form which is preserved in the dialects of South Ostrobothnia.
  • The adjective lyhyt also has a different superlative form in South Ostrobothnia. In place of the standard superlatives lyhin and lyhyin, we instead have lyhyvin.
  • The adverb varhain is correspondingly varahin too.
Form Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
nom. sg. parhain parahin lyh(y)in lyhyvin
gen. sg. parhaimman parahimman lyh(y)immän lyhyvimmän
part. sg. parhainta parahinta lyh(y)intä lyhyvintä
ill. sg. parhaimpaan parahimpahan lyh(y)impään lyhyvimpähän

3.6. Third person possessive suffix

In standard Finnish the suffixes -nsA and -An both indicate 3rd person possession. In South Ostrobothnia however, the -An suffix is never used.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
hänen äidinkielenään
hänen äidinkielenänsä

sen äirinkiälenänsä
hänen kaupungissaan
hänen kaupungissansa

sen kaupungisnansa
heidän mielissään
heidän mielissänsä

niiren miälisnänsä
hän meni mielellään
hän meni mielellänsä

se meni miälellänsä

3.7. Third person singular conjugation: –ee -OO

Type 3, type 5 and type 6 verbs and the type 2 verbs nähdä and tehdä see their third person singular present tense ending shift from -ee to -OO.

VT Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
2 hän tekee se teköö hän näkee se näköö
3 hän hymyilee se hymyylöö hän panee se panoo 
3 hän opettelee se opetteloo  hän kävelee se kävelöö
3 hän opiskelee se opiskeloo hän tulee se tuloo
5 hän nousee hän nousoo hän juoksee se juaksoo
5 hän julkaisee se julukaasoo hän huokaisee se huakaasoo
5 hän pesee se pesöö hän vapisee se vapisoo
6 hän pakenee se pakenoo hän heikkenee se heikkenöö
6 hän etenee se etenöö hän vanhenee se vanahenoo

3.8. Plural verb conjugation

3.8.1. First and second person plural: -mme and -tte

In the dialects of Seinäjoki and Lapua, the first and second person plural verb endings become -mmA and -ttA respectively. In the dialect of Kyrö, the second person plural verb ending is traditionally -jA. In addition, the me-passiivi from other dialects is also in active use in South Ostrobothnia.

Like in the standard language, some type 3 verbs often see the consonant after their first syllable elide, so you may often here meemmä instead of menemmä, tuumma instead of tulemma, etc.

Form Standard Seinäjoki-Lapua Kyrö
Present menemme me(n)emmä me(n)emmä
Present odotatte orotatta orotaja
Imperfect halusimme halusimma halusimma
Imperfect pääsitte pääsittä pääsi
Conditional aloittaisimme aloottaasimma aloottaasimma
Conditional tekisitte tekisittä tekisi
Proto-Finnic background explaining these verb forms

The plural conjugation of these verbs is interesting from a historical standpoint because it reminds us of an ancient Finnish verb form that has since disappeared: the dual. Proto-Uralic languages show signs of having had verbs conjugated in the singular, the plural, and the dual forms. This feature has been preserved in the Sámi languages. For example, it’s possible to specify if the “we” in “we go” referred to two people (using the dual verb forms) or if “we” consisted of more than two people (using the regular plural forms).

 

In the light of reconstructions, we can say that the plural suffixes -mme and -tte are remnants of dual verb forms. This is clear, for example, in the past tense forms *mene-j-men (the two of us went) and *mene-j-ten (the two of you went). The dialectic -mmA and -ttA have retained the -A from what is reconstructed to be the plural form: *mene-j-mäk (we went) and *mene-j-täk (plural you went).

 

  • Early Proto-Finnic plural past tense *mene-j-mäk → became the dialectical form menimmä
  • Early Proto-Finnic plural past tense *mene-j-täk → became the dialectical form menimmä
  • Early Proto-Finnic dual past tense *mene-j-men → became the standard language menimme
  • Early Proto-Finnic dual past tense *mene-j-ten → became the standard language menitte

Thus, we could conclude that the South Ostrobothnian menemmä actually developed more logically than the standard Finnish menemme, because there is no longer a dual verb form in current Finnish.

 

For Kyrö’s dialectic second person plural verb ending -jA, we can also look at the history of the early Proto-Finnic languages, but we have to take a looser approach to its reconstruction. When considering the reconstruction of the Sámi languages, we can conclude that the first person dual verb form used to have -jA (e.g. *meni-jä-n is a reconstructed dual form meaning “the two of us go”), while in Kyrö, it’s specifically used in the second person plural (te menejä), “you (plural) go”).

3.8.2. Third person plural

The third person plural verb forms can vary considerably depending on the region.

  • In Seinäjoki, it is most common to use the third person singular endings with the pronoun ne (e.g. he tulevat becomes ne tuloo).
  • In Ilmajoki, traditionally the forms more closely resemble the standard language, but for those verbs in section 3.4, the suffix -vAt is preceded by -O- rather than -e- (e.g. ne tulovat).
  • In Lapua and Kyrö, traditionally the -vAt suffix is added to the third person singular present tense, rather than the standard language ‘stem’ e.g. ne tuloovat). These forms are now however quite uncommon, and forms more like those traditionally used in Ilmajoki are preferred. Also, in Lapua it’s more common to hear the pronouns ne or het over the standard he.
VT Standard Seinäjoki Ilmajoki Lapua-Kyrö (trad.)
1 auttavat auttaa auttavat auttaavat
1 laulavat laulaa laulavat laulaavat
1 kirjoittavat kirioottaa kirioottavat kirioottaavat
2 uivat ui uivat uivat
2 juovat jua juavat juavat
2 näkevät näköö näkövät näköövät
3 tulevat tuloo tulovat tuloovat
3 kuuntelevat kuunteloo kuuntelovat kuunteloovat
3 kuolevat kualoo kualovat kualoovat
4 avaavat avaa avaavat avaavat
4 palaavat palaa palaavat palaavat
4 salaavat salaa salaavat salaavat
5 nousevat nousoo nousovat nousoovat
5 pesevät pesöö pesövät pesöövät
5 vapisevat vapisoo vapisovat vapisoovat
6 pakenevat pakenoo pakenovat pakenoovat
6 heikkenevät heikkenöö heikkenövät heikkenöövät
6 etenevät etenöö etenövät etenöövät

3.9. The imperfect tense

The imperfect tense describes the simple past: events that happened in the past and are now completely over. Its usage is the same in the standard language, but it can sometimes have different conjugation patterns in South Ostrobothnia.

3.9.1. Doubling of the imperfect’s –i

For verbs where the present and imperfect forms mostly look the same in the standard language, the imperfect can have a second -i-. These verbs are Kotus type 61.

This feature means that most of the forms are no longer ambiguous, except in the third person singular, where the present and imperfect forms are now ambiguous.

I’ve left out the second and third person plural forms from this table because they can vary so much in their endings, as we saw in section 3.8. They do still undergo this change, however.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
etsin ettiin sallin salliin
keksin keksiin marssin marssiin
hankit hankiit opit opiit
pohdit pohoriit mietit miätiit
helli hellii kukki kukkii
hiipi hiipii moitti moittii
juhlimme juhuliimma sovimme soviimma
emmimme emmiimmä kärsimme kärsiimmä

Historically, the short -ida verbs (voida, soida, uida) are attested to have undergone this change as well, so we had fun forms like mää voiin for I was able. These have since sadly fallen out of use.

3.9.2. Changes to the imperfect’s –si

In standard Finnish, there are certain verbtype 1 verbs whose imperfect stem has or can have the suffix –si. This imperfect conjugation pattern is believed to have come through the Eastern dialects (itämurteet) of Finnish, and as such is not traditionally Western.

In South Ostrobothnian dialects, forms without -si are quite common, even for those verbs such as löytää for which such a form didn’t make it into standard Finnish. However, contact with the standard language means some of the –si forms are slowly replacing their dialectal variants; many now opt for vihelsin instead of vihellin, for example. The one exception I’m aware of where – even in the South Ostrobothnian dialects – the ti > si change does take place is tietää. This verb does actually conjugate as tiäsin rather than the fictitious “tiärin” that we might expect. I don’t know why this is an exception.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
rakensin rakennin huusin huurin
vihelsin vihellin kiilsin kiillin
lensin lennin löysin löyriin*
Standard Dialect
lensin lennin
lensit lennit
lensi lenti
lensimme lennimmä/lentihin
lensitte lennittä
lensivät lenti(vät)

*So far as I am aware, the long -ii- in löyriin is a standalone exception for a verb whose present and imperfect stems are not the same.

Proto-Finnic *ti > si muutos

The reason these verbtype 1 verbs (e.g. lentää > lensin, tietää > tiesin) have -si in their standard Finnish imperfect tense form is related to the development from early Proto-Finnic into late Proto-Finnic. We have extensive reconstructed proof that, during this period, words that contained the -ti- sound would have their t-sound replaced with an -s-. We call this change “ti > si muutos” in Finnish.

 

This change touched only some verbtype 1 verbs, because only a number of them would have -ti- in their imperfect conjugation. There are other factors involved as well, which you can read in depth about here.

  • lentää > *lenti > lensi
  • viheltää > *vihelti > vihelsi

This change also influenced nouns (e.g. *tika became sika “pig”, *käti became käsi “hand”, *pojkati became poikasi “my son”) and the imperfect tense of verbtype 4 verbs (e.g. *vastatin became vastasin “I answered”, *makatin became makasin “I lied down”).

 

Note that this ti > si muutos took place before consonant gradation became a thing, so we would have had “minä lentin” rather than “minä lennin” at that stage. This makes sense because the current conjugation has -si- in every personal form (e.g. the Proto-Finnic second person singular *lentin – not *lennin – became lensin).

 

Coming back to South Ostrobothnia’s “minä lennin“, it seems likely that this form was created through analogy, either through analogy with the present tense (hän kieltää > hän kielti), or by following the example of imperfect conjugations where -ti- could not turn into -si-. This is the case for, for example, such verbs as luistaa and hiihtää, where the consonant clusters -st- and -ht- prevented the forms luisti and hiihti from having -ti- turn into -si-. More about this analogy here.

3.10. Conjugation of the verb olla

The verb olla has its own conjugation pattern in the South Ostrobothnian dialects. Also, the personal pronouns can elide (elisio) with the verb forms. This is variably marked with or without an apostrophe in different sources, so the last column could equally as well have read m’oon, s’oot and so on.

Standard Dialect Elided
minä olen mää oon moon, minoon
sinä olet sää oot soot, sinoot
hän on se on soon/son
me olemme me oomma moomma
te olette te ootta tootta
he ovat ne on noon/non

Elision of the personal pronouns is a general phenomenon in South Ostrobothnian dialects, among others, and can occur with any verb, not just olla. It can in principle arise in any tense and mood.

3.11. Verbs ending in -istA → -AjAA

The ending of verbs in verbtype 5, Kotus type 66, whose third person singular present form ends in -Cisee (C denoting a consonant, so we exclude verbs like laukaista which ends with -aisee) can change to -AjAA in South Ostrobothnian dialects. This specifically happens to verbs which are onomatopoeic or sound-symbolic. These -AjAA verbs can be created on the fly – the suffix is productive in the spoken dialectal language of South Ostrobothnia.

This form is considered both the infinitive and the third person singular present tense, and it can be conjugated; “it started to shake” could be se alakoo täräjämähän.

Standard Dialect Meaning
from tutista: tutisee tutajaa to wiggle; he/she/it wiggles
from hytistä: hytisee hytäjää to quiver; he/she/it quivers
from kalista: kalisee kalajaa to rattle; he/she/it rattles
from täristä: tärisee täräjää to shake; he/she/it shakes
from havista: havisee havajaa to swish; he/she/it swishes
from kähistä: kähisee kähäjää to croak; he/she/it croaks
from liristä: lirisee liräjää to gurgle; he/she/it gurgles

3.12. Verbs ending in -OidA

Long verbtype 2 verbs, which end in –OidA in standard Finnish, follow a variant pattern in South Ostrobothnian dialects. They have the ending -OOttiA instead. This pattern is not attested in short verbs – voida, soida and uida are just voira, soira and uira.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
tupakoin tupakootten imuroin imurootten
mellakoin mellakootten pysäköin pysäköötten
haravoin haravootten viipaloin viipalootten
emännöin emännöötten ikävöin ikävöötten
seppelöin seppelöötten urakoin urakootten
vartioin vartiootten liehakoin liahakootten

The –OidA ending can still be used for the infinitive, so a South Ostrobothnian could say tupakootten for the first person singular present but still say tupakoida (rather than tupakoottia) for the infinitive, for example.

It may appear unusual that the present tense endings have an –e– (tupakootten) and the imperfect (tupakoottin) has an –i-. This is due to the fact that tupakoottia ends in –ia because of a phonological diphthong loosening of the type discussed in section 2.2, rather than a grammatical change. So tupakootten is I smoke, and tupakoottin is I smoked. Also, the –tt– doesn’t undergo consonant gradation, which might also surprise you; this is because the –tt– is also a phonological change, of the type discussed in section 2.6, whereby –ts– becomes –tt-.

If we suspend the phonological features of our dialects for a moment, we’ll see tupakoottia is in fact the same form as tupakoitsea. This is why our present endings have an –e– rather than an –i-, and why the –tt– doesn’t gradate. A similar form is attested in dialects outside of South Ostrobothnia, and even made it indirectly into standard Finnish, in the derived noun tupakoitsija, which people still use today.

Haravoida: Example of the present and past tense conjugation
Verb form Standard Dialect
present sg. 1st pers. haravoin haravootten
present sg. 2nd pers. haravoit haravoottet
present sg. 3rd pers. haravoi haravoottoo
present pl. 1st pers. haravoimme haravoottemma
present pl. 2nd pers. haravoitte haravoottetta
present pl. 2nd pers. haravoivat haravoottovat
imperfect sg. 1st pers. haravoin haravoottin
imperfect sg. 2nd pers. haravoit haravoottit
imperfect sg. 3rd pers. haravoi haravootti
imperfect pl. 1st pers. haravoimme haravoottimma
imperfect pl. 2nd pers. haravoitte haravoottitta
imperfect pl. 2nd pers. haravoivat haravoottivat

Be reminded that, as discussed in section 3.8, the plural endings can vary a lot between regions. This is how it would look in the traditional Ilmajoki pattern, which I chose because it most closely matches the standard language.

3.13. Clitics and the second person singular

When the clitics (liitepartikkeli) pa/-pä, ko/-kö, ka/-kä or kin/-kaan/-kään are added to the second person singular, the consonant cluster (konsonanttiyhtymä) -tp- or -tk- undergoes cluster reduction and becomes -pp- or -kk- respectively.

Standard Dialect Standard Dialect Standard Dialect
etpä eppä etkö ekkö etkä ekkä
oletpa ooppa oletko ookko oletkin ookki
teetpä teeppä teetkö teekkö teetkin teekki
opitpa opippa opitko opikko opitkin opikki

It is quite common to drop the –n from the kin/-kaan/-kään clitics in South Ostrobothnian dialects.

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4. Analysis of some single words

Throughout this article there are words which undergo multiple changes. I have tried to highlight the change relevant to the section each word is in, so you can focus on the task at hand. Here, I have taken a sample of such words and completely untangled them, so you can break down everything that’s happening.

Standard Dialect Standard
aloittaisimme aloottaasimma oi → oo (unstressed oi-diphthong straightens, 2.3)
ai → aa (same type of change, 2.3)
mme → mma (3.8.1)
ehdin eherin epenteesi (vowel added in –hd– cluster, 2.1)
d → r (2.5)
huokaisee huakaasoo uo → ua (uo-diphthong widens, 2.2)
ai → aa (unstressed ai-diphthong straightens, 2.3)
ee → oo (3.7)
järjetön järietöön j → i (consonant change 2.8)
ö → öö (2.4)
pohdit pohoriit epenteesi (vowel added in –hd– cluster, 2.1)
d → r (2.5)
i → ii (imperfect –i– doubling, 3.9.1)
kirjoittavat kirioottaavat j → i (2.8)
oi → oo (unstressed oi-diphthong straightens, 2.3)
avat → aavat (3.8.2)
mielissään miälisnänsä ie→ iä (ie-diphthong widens, 2.2)
ssä→ snä (inessive with possessive suffix, 3.1.1)
än→ nsä (3.6)
ylpeä ylypiä epenteesi (vowel added in –lp– cluster, 2.1)
→ iä (-diphthong widens, 2.2)

5. Vocabulary typical for the South Ostrobothnian dialect

Here is a list of vocabulary used in South Ostrobothnia. Most words do not appear at all in the standard language; in a few cases, the word appears in both, but with different meanings. In my experience, typically Finns outside South Ostrobothnia rarely understand any of these words just from context!

Dialect Standard Meaning
ailehtaa olla heitteillä be neglected
amma lastenvahti babysitter
ankkastukki pullapitko a pulla loaf
aseet ruokailuvälineet cutlery
asuulla leikkiä to play
eheroontaharoon välttämättä necessarily
ehtoo ilta evening
eli tai or
emäntä vaimo, tyttöystävä wife, girlfriend
flataanen onneton, toivoton wretched
fletajaa repsottaa hang, dangle
fletarehrata roikkua hang
fröökynä hieno neiti pretty lady
fölijyhyn mukaan along (with)
följy sakki sack
följys mukana along (with)
haiku ikävä regrettable
hairaantua ajautua sivuraiteelle get sidetracked
haltioora olla lapsenvahtina to babysit
hanitoon valtavan suuri huge
hantuuki käsipyyhe hand towel
havaata huomata notice
he ole hyvä there you go, voilà
helluunen herttainen sweet
henuune ylettömän romanttinen hopeless romantic
hirvittää pelottaa scare
holotna kylmä cold
hornata kuorsata, nukkua snore, sleep
hupulaanen kaveri friend
huuriton huonokäytöksinen ill-behaved
huustuukia päätä pahkaa headlong
häjyynen perheen nuorin youngest
hätäpräiskä äkkipikainen hot-headed
hörsköttää leikkiä riehakkaasti play rough
ie harmistunut huudahdus “argh”
ilietä kehdata dare, have the nerve
issee isä father
itikka nautaeläin cow
jefreettari kummajainen oddball
joppari polkupyörän tavarateline on-bike rack
juluppi sepalus fly, zipper
juntu metsäpolku forest trail
kaahia kiivetä climb
kaahimalavitta taloustikkaat step ladder
kaikales puunkappale* kindling
(olla) kaikki (olla) loppu used up
kamari huone room
karteekit ikkunaverhot curtains
karvatti koira dog
kehua puhua, sanoa speak, say
keriitä ehtiä have time
kihveli rikkalapio dustpan
kikit rinnat breasts
kinnootoksis tiukalla tightly
kirkolle keskustaan into town
kistu kirstu chest, trunk
kittana liian pieni vaate too small clothing
klasipalli keinosiementäjä artificial inseminator
klopero kuoppa pit, pothole
kokki ullakko attic, loft
komia komea, kaunis handsome, beautiful
konhoollinen kelju ihminen arsehole
kooli vati dish
kranni naapuri neighbour
kranttu nirso, ronkeli picky person
kretonki hieno kangas quality fabric
kropsu pannukakku pancake
kruusattu koristeltu decorated
kräkytä rähistä brawl
kränä erimielisyys, riita dispute
krävätä laskuttaa, vaatia bill, demand
krävöö lasku bill
kröhä flunssa flu, cold
kröpeliäänen karhea pinta rough surface
kurkoone hyönteinen insect
kurmoottaa kurittaa (lapsi) beat, punish
känääne pieni little
kärmes käärme snake
kökkä talkoot dugnad
köppäänen heikkolaatuinen flimsy, shoddy
laihin tapaan in the style of
lanttalauree kauttaaltaan thoroughly
lavitta tuoli chair
lesta polkupyörän satula bike seat
limppi pieni määrä puolikiinteää ainetta blob, globule
linkka nilkka ankle
lipoone liukas slippery
lotrata leikkiä vedellä splash
luntioomet lonkat, lantio hips, pelvis
lykky silmukka loop
mariaalla viivytellä dawdle
markki piha yard
muru karkki, makeinen sweet, candy
möltti pala suht. kiinteää ainetta chunk, lump, bit, piece
mötiäänen mehiläinen bee
nahkaanen ilkeä(hkö) mischievous
nappo kauha scoop
nostates hiiva yeast
notta että, jotta that
nupaata mumista murmur
nästyyki nenäliina handkerchief
olovana olevinaan jotakin pretend to be
onales tuntematon komponentti thingymajig
oriaalla nöyristellä kowtow to
orpoojurkeloosna yksin alone
paisunta tulva flood
pasteerata käveleskellä walk around
pelli pelti sheet, plate
peräloosteri auton tavaratila boot
peräruoka jälkiruoka dessert, pudding
pilikkumi kulho bowl
piperöönen pieni small
piskotikku sateenvarjo umbrella
plakkari tasku pocket
pluutata tinkiä haggle
porata itkeä cry
porottaa särkeä, pakottaa hurt, ache
porsta kovaharjaksinen harja hard-bristled brush
porstata pestä porstalla see porsta
porstua kuisti, eteinen porch, hallway
prunni kaivo well
pruukata olla tapana tend to
prääsätä pitää meteliä make noise
prökkevä ylpeä proud
pröystäällä levennellä show off, swagger
pultut lahkeet (trouser) legs
puo takapuoli bottom
putukihiveli rikkalapio dustpan
puukko veitsi knife
pyörtää palata takaisin turn back
pärvöttää purkaa dissemble
pättäre kukkula small hill
päässilimäänen kuriton unruly
pöhölö tyhmä stupid
pönk(k)a tuki, salpa support
pöröttää peruuttaa renege, call off
pöyröö tyhmä stupid
ramaasta väsyttää tire out, make tired
rantu raita, juova streak, trail
rasa lapanen, kinnas mitten
rauska rikkinäinen broken
reiruhun reilusti, kunnolla properly
rengätä tarvita need
retajaa olla, lojua be, be left
rikuneerata panna hanttiin challenge
roikootella pukeutua kittanaan dress skimpily
rooppi pieni vesikuoppa pool of water
rotke Dodge car brand
rymsteerata siirrellä tavaroita rearrange, shuffle around
räpäskä räntä, jota sataa sleet
rääppöö puolustuskyvytön defenceless, mere
rörö deodorantti deodorant
sakia tosi tyhmä imbecile
sitipriti pienikuvioinen kangas intricate fabric
sivaata kuiskutella whisper
soholot kangaspuut loom
sopeva söpö, ihailtava adorable
sosimet aterimet cutlery
soutulavitta keinutuoli rocking chair
suijaa aloillaan still, motionless
takaloosteri auton tavaratila boot
tanttu mekko dress
tassi kupin alusvati saucer
tihkasoo tehdä tekemisestä tuskallista make doing smth. painful
tingillänsä kiusallaan out of spite
toimitella jutella chit-chat
**toosa radio, televisio radio, TV
topata pysähtyä stop
tormata kiiruhtaa hurry
tormoottaa kiiruhtaa hurry
tosinoukka tosikko humourless, austere
trahteerata olla vieraanvarainen be hostlike
trasu kangas fabric
triksevä voimakas, reipas intense
troppi lääke medicine, pill
trossata kehua, mahtailla praise
tryykätä rynnätä rush, come at
träillä perillä asioista informed
tykky tukeva, paksu (taikinasta) sturdy, thick (of dough)
tärkiää kovin mielellään gladly, most willingly
umpelooset perunat potatoes
vaapsahaane hyönteinen insect
vahavaatte paksulti thickly
valakia tuli fire
valesvirees tilapäisesti paikalleen asennettu temporarily installed
valokki lakka varnish
verhat vaatteet clothes
viiatti Fiat car brand
voorti Ford car brand
väipährös hetki moment
väkitukko itsepäinen stubborn
väättyri uppiniskainen stubborn
yhtäkunnaki neliskulmainen quadrangular
ynnä ja yhtenä yhdessä together
äitee äiti mother
änkköö väittely argument
önkköönen puhumaton silent, quiet

Disclaimer: My native dialect is British English and so I have used that in writing the English translations. I’m aware this is not necessarily the most common localisation among L2 English speakers, so I’ve added a ‘standard Finnish’ translation column to help avoid confusion. Hopefully this is a nice addition for our native Finns reading this as well 🙂

*kaikales is a form of wood used for fire-starting (sytyttää tuli). It’s smaller than a billet (klapi, halko), but a bit rougher and coarser than conventional tinder (sytyke).

**toosa was relatively common in sources from roughly around the mid-20th century, when radio and later the television first became popular. Nowadays, this word has rather more vulgar connotations in colloquial Finnish, so it’s largely fallen out of use for the meaning listed in the table.

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6. Example sentences of the South Ostrobothnian dialect

Here are some example sentences which make use of the phonological and grammatical changes we’ve studied and the vocabulary we’ve learnt. They all come from native speakers across South Ostrobothnia.

Dialect Standard
Pitikö sen Ylerminki ny eheroontaharoon lähtiä meirän fölijyhy? Pitikö sen Ylerminkin nyt välttämättä lähteä meidän mukaamme?
Onko meillä ny kaikki verhat följys? Onko meillä nyt kaikki vaatteet mukana?
Krannin flikka lupas haltioora meirän kersoja sill aikaa ku me käyrähän Keskisellä. Naapurin tyttö lupasi vahtia lapsiamme sillä aikaa kun me käymme Keskisellä.
Eikö sua yhtää hirvitä kulukia kaupungilla orpoojurkeloosnas? Eikö sinua pelota yhtään kulkea kaupungilla yksin?
On se kumma ku ei nualle huurittomille kersoolle saara mittää kuria! On kumma, kun ei noille huonokäytöksille lapsille saada mitään kuria!
Mua nii ramaasoo, notta tairan mennä kokkikamarihin maate. Minua väsyttää niin, että taidan mennä makuuhuoneeseen nukkumaan.
Kyllä on sustaki tullu kranttu ku ei sulle enää issees vanahat verhat kelepaa ollenkaa! On sinusta kyllä tullut nirso kun ei sinulle enää isäsi vanhat vaatteet kelpaa ollenkaan!
Nytten kyllä millään joura lähtiä, mutta joskus illansyrjäs vois keriitä. En nyt millään jouda lähtemään, mutta joskus illansyrjässä voisin ehtiä.
Jokisen pariskunnallaki on kuulemma nykyää kränävälit! Jokisen pariskunnallakin on kuulemma nykyään erimielisyyksiä!
Soot kyllä nii huuritoon, notta sua pitääs pikkuse kurmoottaa! Olet kyllä niin huonokäytöksinen, että sinua pitäisi vähän kurittaa!
Kyl olis reteetä istua porstuan lavittalla munasillansa ja nahkarasat käresnänsä. Kyllä olisi reteää istua kuistin tuolilla alasti ja nahkakintaat kädessään.
Jussi ei ny joura puhelimehe, soon markilla piänimäs puita. Jussi ei nyt ehdi puhelimeen, hän on takapihalla pilkkomassa puita
Ristus notta mulla meinaa selekää poroottaa! Saakeli kun minulla meinaa selkää pakottaa!
Viittikkö porstata mun selijän ku soon nii kanahkaanen? Viitsitkö pestä minun selkäni kun se on niin likainen
Ookko sä havaannu notta lokki on paskoonu sun selekähä pitkän valakoosen rannun? Oletko huomannut, että lokki on ulostanut selkääsi pitkän valkoisen juovan?
Sullon aiva rauskat alahampahat, ookko oikoonu rautanauloja? Sinulla on alahampaat aivan rikki, oletko oikonut rautanauloja?
Paa ny se toosa vähä piänemmälle, eihä täälä kuule eres omia ajatuksiansa! Pane nyt televisio vähän pienemmälle, eihän täällä kuule edes omia ajatuksiaan!
Ookkosä ottanu mittää troppia tuahon kröhääs? Oletko ottanut mitään lääkettä flunssaasi?
Kyllä se pröksevä konhoolline sitte jaksaa pröystäällä sillä Pemarillansa. Kyllä se ylpeä kelju ihminen sitten jaksaa levennellä sillä hänen Bemarillaan.
Sullahan on nua pultut aiva ravas ku sinoot antanu nää vaan koko päivän fletajaa! Sinullahan on nuo housujen lahkeet aivan ravassa kun olet antanut nämä vain koko päivän repsottaa!
Ku kaikales oli kaikki, flikka nakkas rasat valakiahan. Kun sytyke oli loppu, tyttö heitti lapaset tuleen.
Joppari lestana saa puon porottamaan. Polkupyörän tavarateline satulana sattuu takapuoleen.
Ristus notta tua pellikatto on märkänä lipoone, melekeen tipahrin kun olin kolaamas korsteenia. Hitto, tuo peltikatto on märkänä liukas, melkein tipahdin kun olin kolaamassa savupiippua.
Sen hupulaanen on kyllä jefreettari ku soon aina vaa önköönen. Hänen kaverinsa on kyllä kummajainen kun tämä on aina vain hiljaa.
Ristus notta se amma osaa kyllä käyttää soholoota ku se teki karteekista tantun! Vau, se lastenvahti osaa kyllä käyttää kangaspuita kun se teki verhosta hameen!
Äiree on träillä mihinä hantuuki ja sosimet on. Äiti tietää, missä nenäliina ja aterimet ovat.
Isseen nästyyki pitääs porstata ku siinä on räkäklimppi. Isän nenäliina pitäisi pestä koska siinä on pieni määrä räkää.
Emmää ymmärrä niitä uusia köppääsiä toosia ku niissä on kaikellaasia onalehia. En ymmärrä uusia huonolaatuisia laitteita kun niissä on kaikenlaisia tuntemattomia komponentteja.
Tua kloppi hornaas vaikka kaahimalavittalla. Tuo poika pystyisi nukkumaan vaikka taloustikkailla.
Älä syä, sakia! Tua kropsu on lanttalauree mötiääsissä! Älä syö, tyhmä! Tuo pannukakku on täynnä mehiläisiä!
Häjyynen rikuneeraa kökkää. Perheen nuorin vastustaa talkootyötä.
Fröökynä tormootti juntua pitkin ku itikka tryykäs sen kimppuhunsa. Hieno neiti kiiruhti metsäpolkua pitkin kun lehmä ryntäsi hänen kimppuunsa.
Laita piskotikku peräloosterihin ja sittemme lähäretähän liikkehelle. Laita sateenvarjo auton tavaratilaan ja sitten lähdetään liikkeelle.
Jos mää kirioottaasin fiktiota niin tekisin sen kyllä eteläpohojammaaksi. Jos kirjoittaisin fiktiota niin tekisin sen kyllä eteläpohjanmaaksi.

A South Ostrobothnian saying (sanonta): “En mää täyrellinen oo, musta puuttuu kaikki viat.”
Meaning: “I am not perfect, for I lack all faults.”  Typical South Ostrobothnian self-confidence!

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Jukka_K

OMG, quite a huge kit! Sounds good.