Nykysuomen sanakirja
Encyclopedia
Nykysuomen sanakirja is a Finnish language
dictionary published between 1951 and 1961 in six separate volumes. The dictionary was edited by the Finnish Literature Society
and published by WSOY. It is the first monolingual Finnish dictionary and has over 201,000 headwords. It is the most comprehensive Finnish language dictionary. Throughout the years, it has enjoyed major academic significance. The dictionary has never been updated: all later editions contain the same content, which reflects the language as it was before the mid-20th century. The need for a modern dictionary has led to the publication of The New Dictionary of Modern Finnish
.
because, reportedly, there had been problems with word ambiguity and clarity in law-making. The initial roadmap was drafted in 1927 and 1928 and the Finnish Literature Society was given a grant for the development of the book. The first editor-in-chief was professor Martti Airila, who was followed in 1939 by professor Matti Sadeniemi.
The Second World War almost completely stalled the editorial work. In 1945 the dictionary had reached the letter L
. The first volume was published in 1951, followed by five more volumes. The last volume was printed in 1961. An abbreviated "people's edition" was published in 1967, consisting of three volumes.
The original version remains unchanged—the dictionary only reflects the language as it was no later than 1961. There have been numerous reprintings: 15th edition was published in 2002.
Because the dictionary only reflects relatively dated language, and because the colloquial language
in particular has greatly changed, it has been partly replaced by KOTUS
's dictionaries during the 1990s, especially in regards to today's modern language. They include: The Basic Dictionary of the Finnish Language (Suomen kielen perussanakirja), published between 1990 and 1994, and its revised version The New Dictionary of Modern Finnish
(Kielitoimiston sanakirja), published in 2006. However, Nykysuomen sanakirja remains the most comprehensive Finnish language dictionary as it contains over 201,000 headwords, far more comprehensive than the under 100,000 headwords of the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland dictionaries.
s, followed by example phrases and compound word examples.
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
dictionary published between 1951 and 1961 in six separate volumes. The dictionary was edited by the Finnish Literature Society
Finnish Literature Society
The Finnish Literature Society was founded in 1831 to promote literature written in Finnish. Among its first publications was the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic.-External links:* ...
and published by WSOY. It is the first monolingual Finnish dictionary and has over 201,000 headwords. It is the most comprehensive Finnish language dictionary. Throughout the years, it has enjoyed major academic significance. The dictionary has never been updated: all later editions contain the same content, which reflects the language as it was before the mid-20th century. The need for a modern dictionary has led to the publication of The New Dictionary of Modern Finnish
The New Dictionary of Modern Finnish
The New Dictionary of Modern Finnish is the most recent dictionary on the modern Finnish language. It is edited by the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland. The current printed edition was first published in 2006, and is based on the 2004 digital version of the same name...
.
History
The dictionary was initiated on 17 November 1927 by the decision of EduskuntaParliament of Finland
The Eduskunta , is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011.- Constitution :...
because, reportedly, there had been problems with word ambiguity and clarity in law-making. The initial roadmap was drafted in 1927 and 1928 and the Finnish Literature Society was given a grant for the development of the book. The first editor-in-chief was professor Martti Airila, who was followed in 1939 by professor Matti Sadeniemi.
The Second World War almost completely stalled the editorial work. In 1945 the dictionary had reached the letter L
L
Ł or ł, described in English as L with stroke, is a letter of the Polish, Kashubian, Sorbian, Łacinka , Łatynka , Wilamowicean, Navajo, Dene Suline, Inupiaq, Zuni, Hupa, and Dogrib alphabets, several proposed alphabets for the Venetian language, and the ISO 11940 romanization of the Thai alphabet...
. The first volume was published in 1951, followed by five more volumes. The last volume was printed in 1961. An abbreviated "people's edition" was published in 1967, consisting of three volumes.
The original version remains unchanged—the dictionary only reflects the language as it was no later than 1961. There have been numerous reprintings: 15th edition was published in 2002.
Because the dictionary only reflects relatively dated language, and because the colloquial language
Spoken Finnish
Colloquial Finnish is the "dialectless" colloquial standard of the Finnish language. It is spoken in the Greater Helsinki region, and in urbanized areas in the Tavastian and Central Finland dialectal areas, such as the cities of Jyväskylä, Lahti, Hyvinkää, and Hämeenlinna...
in particular has greatly changed, it has been partly replaced by KOTUS
Research Institute for the Languages of Finland
The Research Institute for the Languages of Finland is a governmental linguistic research institute of Finland geared at studies of Finnish, Swedish , the Sami languages, Romani language, and the Finnish Sign Language....
's dictionaries during the 1990s, especially in regards to today's modern language. They include: The Basic Dictionary of the Finnish Language (Suomen kielen perussanakirja), published between 1990 and 1994, and its revised version The New Dictionary of Modern Finnish
The New Dictionary of Modern Finnish
The New Dictionary of Modern Finnish is the most recent dictionary on the modern Finnish language. It is edited by the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland. The current printed edition was first published in 2006, and is based on the 2004 digital version of the same name...
(Kielitoimiston sanakirja), published in 2006. However, Nykysuomen sanakirja remains the most comprehensive Finnish language dictionary as it contains over 201,000 headwords, far more comprehensive than the under 100,000 headwords of the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland dictionaries.
Style
Nykysuomen sanakirja is normative-descriptive dictionary: in addition to definitions of the words it also contains recommendations for proper use of the words. Each headword has a number, which gives its index in the word inflection table as presented in the beginning of the book. Words are defined by compact descriptions, and with the use of synonymSynonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
s, followed by example phrases and compound word examples.