Finnish for busy people

Finnish -ATA Loanverbs from English

April 13, 2020
May 31, 2021
 uusikielemme

About 20% of Finnish vocabulary is estimated to be of foreign origin. This article deals with the origins of Finnish ATA loanverbs from English, their possibly different routes into Finnish and how they are dealt with in the Finnish language. Using the ending -ata has become a common way to adopt words from English into Finnish (e.g. googlata, tekstata, twiitata).

Those examples are the most recent “wave” of new words, but there are older words ending in -ata as well. The etymology of these verbs is not always clear. As such, some loanverbs from English added on this page might actually have taken a detour via Swedish or German.

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  1. Which verbs are included in this list?
  2. Information presented in the table
  3. Finnish -ATA loanverbs from English
  4. The semantics of -ATA loanverbs from English
    1. The age of loanwords
    2. The history and source of loanwords
    3. The meaning of loanwords
  5. The Phonology of -ATA Loanverbs from English
    1. Foreign consonants
    2. Consonant clusters
    3. Pronunciation of vowels
    4. Vowel harmony
    5. Consonant gradation
    6. No consonant gradation

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1. Which verbs are included in this list?

For this article, I have searched for *ata in Kielitoimiston sanakirja. By putting an asterisk in front of the search word, you tell the dictionary to return all words that end in the letters after the asterisk.

Many of the verbs in my list are considered colloquial, dialect or slang words. My list is far from exhaustive; you could certainly think up many more slang words to add to this list. I’ve limited my scope to only those verbs that can be found in the dictionary I used. You can find many more examples from Finnish slang in Urbaani Sanakirja.

Included in this list are verbs that are pretty similar to English. I’m NOT calling them “English loanverbs“, as this can be extremely inaccurate. Languages borrow from each other constantly and we can’t follow the path of a word from one language to another.

In this article, I’m looking at verbs that look as though they have been adopted from English. For many of these, in addition to a direct adoption from English, we can often also consider an adoption from Swedish or German, which in turn have adopted the verb from English.

The idea of this article is to look at verbs that will be easy to recognize to English speakers. I do realize that some of these do etymologically fit better on my page about Swedish loanverbs, but I’m using English as a comparison.

2. Information presented in the table

In the table below, you can find the basic form of the verb (e.g. blogata), the English verb (e.g. to blog) and a more common or alternative way to say the same thing in Finnish without using the loanword (e.g. kirjoittaa blogia).

I’ve also included the Swedish translation of the verb where it resembles the Finnish and English words. For these verbs, it is hard to say how the word came into the Finnish language. Some of these verbs are straight loanverbs from English, however some could also have come through Swedish first; it’s hard to be sure. In the table below, the Swedish verb will appear within brackets, accompanied by the abbreviation Sw.

The table also contains some consonants that are green and others that are purple. The green verbs have consonant gradation (e.g. blokata : minä blokkaan : sinä blokkasit). The purple verbs are verbs where you might expect consonant gradation, but there is none. (e.g. hennata : minä hennaan : sinä hennasit).

3. Finnish -ATA Loanverbs from English

Finnish Origin Alternative way of saying
blogata to blog kirjoittaa blogia (Sw. blogga)
blokata to block estää, sulkea, muodostaa blokki (Sw. blocka)
blondata to dye blond vaalentaa tukkaa
bluffata to bluff hämätä, harhauttaa (Sw. bluffa)
bodata to bodybuild harrastaa kehonrakennusta
breikata to break (dance) katketa (tanssia breikkiä)
briiffata to brief opastaa, ohjata
buuata to boo huutaa “buu” (Sw. bua)
buutata to boot, reboot käynnistää, käynnistyä uudelleen
bootata to boot, reboot käynnistää, käynnistyä uudelleen
chatata to chat harrastaa verkkojuttelua
tsätätä to chat harrastaa verkkojuttelua
chillata to chill ottaa rennosti (Sw. chilla)
deitata to date käydä treffeillä (Sw. dejta)
dekoodata to decode purkaa koodi
digata to dig tykätä, pitää, välittää (Sw. digga)
dipata to dip kastaa kasviksia kastikkeeseen (Sw. dippa)
diskata to disqualify diskvalifioida, hylätä (Sw. diska)
dissata to diss / dislike haukkua / inhota (Sw. dissa)
doupata to use doping käyttää kilpaurheilussa aineita (Sw. dopa)
dubata to dub jälkiäänittää (Sw. dubba)
dumpata to dump kaataa jätteitä esim. mereen (Sw. dumpa)
faksata to fax lähettää faksi (Sw. faxa)
feidata to fade, to skip jättää tulematta, häivyttää
feikata to fake teeskennellä, näytellä (Sw. fejka)
feilata to fail epäonnistua, nolata, itsensä (Sw. fejla)
feissata “face-to-face” hankkia jäseniä kadulla, esim. WWF
fiksata to fix korjata / järjestää, hankkia (Sw. fixa)
flirtata to flirt flirttailla, keimailla (Sw. flirta)
flopata to flop, fail epäonnistua (Sw. floppa)
googlata to google etsiä Google-hakukoneella (Sw. googla)
guuglata to google etsiä Google-hakukoneella
grillata to grill paahtaa grillissä (Sw. grilla)
handlata to handle käsitellä, hoitaa
hennata to dye w/ henna värjätä hennalla
hiivata to heave vetää, kiristää köyttä, ankkuria
interrailata to interrail matkustaa interrailkortilla
interreilata to interrail matkustaa interrailkortilla
irkata to chat on IRC harrastaa verkkojuttelua IRC:ssä
jammata to jam soittaa jameissa, vapaasti improvisoiden (Sw. jamma)
jodlata to yodel laulaa kuten alppiseutujen asukkaat (Sw. jodla)
joogata to yoga harjoittaa joogaa
karpata “low carb” syödä mahdollisimman vähän hiilihydraatteja
kidnapata to kidnap siepata, kaapata, tehdä ihmisryöstö (Sw. kidnappa)
klikata to click napsauttaa hiiren painiketta (Sw. klicka)
kloonata to clone tuottaa klooneja
koodata to code ohjelmoida (Sw. koodata)
koutsata to coach valmentaa (Sw. coacha)
larpata to LARP osallistua liveroolipeliin
liftata to lift, hitchhike kulkea peukalokyydillä (Sw. lifta)
liisata to lease autojen, koneiden pitkäaikaisvuokraus
linkata to link linkittää, tehdä tekstiin linkkejä
lobata to lobby pitää epävirallisia yhteyksiä poliitikkoihin (Sw. lobba)
logata to log (in/out) kirjautua (sisään/ulos) (Sw. logga)
lynkata to lynch teloittaa (suuren kansanjoukon teko)
mailata to email lähettää sähköpostia
meilata to email lähettää sähköpostia
meikata to apply makeup kaunistaa kasvot kosmeettisilla aineilla (Sw. mejka)
miksata to mix sekoittaa; yhdistää ääniraitoja (Sw. mixa)
missata to miss pilata, epäonnistua; hukata, jättää väliin (Sw. missa)
mobata to mob, to bully kiusata, sortaa, simputtaa (Sw. mobba)
mopata to mop puhdistaa mopilla (Sw. moppa)
multitaskata to multitask tehdä monia asioita samaan aikaan (Sw. multitaska)
narkata to use narcotics käyttää huumeita
pimpata to pimp muokata uudenlaiseksi, parannella (Sw. pimpa)
postata to post julkaista viesti, juttu, video netissä (Sw. posta)
printata to print tulostaa (Sw. printa)
psyykata to psyche suggeroida hyvään suoritukseen (Sw. psyka)
putata to putt lyödä putti golfissa (Sw. putta)
rankata to rank asettaa paremmuusjärjestykseen, sijoittaa (Sw. ranka)
relata to relax rentoutua (probably not from relaxa)
rokata to rock esittää, tanssia rokkia (Sw. rocka)
sambata to samba tanssia sambaa
samplata to sample tallentaa samplerin avulla ääntä (Sw. sampla)
sämplätä to sample tallentaa samplerin avulla ääntä
sheivata to shave poistaa ihokarvoja höylällä
skannata to scan käyttää skanneria (Sw. skanna)
skeitata to skate rullalautailla (Sw. skejta)
skipata to skip jättää väliin, hypätä yli (Sw. skippa)
sparrata to spar otella nyrkkeilyssä harjoitusvastustajan kanssa
spiikata to speak juontaa, kuuluttaa
spinnata to spin pyöräyttää, pyörähtää vaakasuunnassa (Sw. spinna)
splitata to split jakaa osake pienempiin osakkeisiin (Sw. splitta)
spoilata to spoil the plot paljastaa elokuvan, kirjan tapahtumia etukäteen
spreijata to spray ruiskuttaa, suihkuttaa sprayta (Sw. spreja)
stailata to style ehostaa, kaunistaa, muokata jnkn tyyliä (Sw. stajla)
stalkata to stalk vakoilla, seurata, tarkkailla, vainota (Sw. stalka)
startata to start käynnistää, käynnistyä (Sw. starta)
stressata to stress aiheuttaa stressiä; hermoilla, jännittää (Sw. stressa)
striimata to stream siirtää kuvaa ja ääntä suoratoistona
stripata to strip(tease) esittää stripteasea, riisua vaatteita (Sw. strippa)
surffata to surf surffailla, purjelautailla, lainelautailla (Sw. surfa)
sympata to sympathize sympatisoida; tukea, kannattaa
synkata to sync sopia yhteen, tulla toimeen keskenään (Sw. synka)
tagata to tag merkitä joku esim. kuvaan somessa (Sw. tagga)
tägätä to tag merkitä joku esim. kuvaan somessa
taklata to tackle horjuttaa vastustajaa tai kaataa hänet (Sw. tackla)
teipata to tape kiinnittää, sitoa teipillä (Sw. tejpa)
tekstata to text lähettää tekstiviestejä
trollata to troll ärsyttää ihmisiä tahallaan internetissä
tsekata to check tarkistaa
tuunata to (fine)tune muokata, parannella itselleen mieluisammaksi
tviitata to tweet lähettää viesti sosiaalisen median Twitteriin
twiitata to tweet lähettää viesti sosiaalisen median Twitteriin
vokata to wok kypsentää vokkipannussa (Sw. woka)
zoomata to zoom muuttaa kuva-alan rajausta, tarkentaa kuva

4. The Semantics of -ATA Verbs Borrowed from English

4.1. The Age of Loanwords

Not all loanwords are the same age, so not all words were adopted into Finnish at the same time. The list above contains loanverbs that have been around for a while.

In contrast, the list below gives you some examples of loanverbs from English that haven’t made it into Kielitoimiston sanakirja yet because they’re too new. It’s likely that some of these will be added in the future, while others will just disappear from spoken language.

Finnish Origin Alternative way of saying
facebookata Facebook käyttää Facebookia
feisbuukata Facebook käyttää Facebookia
photoshapata Photoshop käyttää Photoshoppia
skaipata Skype käyttää Skypeä
zumbata Zumba harjoittaa zumbaa
flossata floss dance tanssia kuten hammaslankaa käytettäessä
twerkata twerk tehdä tanssiliikettä, jossa takapuolta heilutetaan ylös ja alas

4.2. The History and Source of Loanverbs

As I’ve mentioned several times already, this page contains loanverbs that look like their English equivalent. Their history, however, can be more complicated. They could have been adopted through a different language; most likely through Swedish.

There are some indicators that might show that a verb has made it from English to Finnish through Swedish. While working on this article, it became clear quite quickly that consonant gradation could be such an indicator. Many of the English verbs that have a similar Swedish equivalent have a double consonant in them, which is reminiscent of the Finnish strong grade of consonant gradation. For example, “to blog” is “blogga” Swedish. In Finnish, the basic form of the verb will be blogata and the conjugated forms e.g. bloggaan and bloggasin.

4.3. The Meaning of Loanverbs

Sometimes the Finnish loanword has a slightly different meaning than the English word it’s been borrowed from. This is the case, for example, for the following verbs:

The verb spiikata comes from the English “to speak”, but its meaning has shifted to mean speaking to an audience via loudspeakers. As such, it is possible that this loanverb has been adopted into Finnish through the noun “speaker” rather than the verb “to speak”. It’s hard to know for sure.

The verb synkata has also evolved beyond the English “to sync”. In Finnish, the verb is also used to express that two people get along very well; they “just clicked” (Heillä synkkaa hyvin). We can also use it to say that, for example, the picture and the sound of a television don’t match up perfectly, which is more consistent with the English meaning.

5. The Phonology of -ATA Loanverbs from English

When adopting words from other languages, there is always the issue of certain sounds not existing in the target language. There are different that these words will be adjusted to fit the target language. Below you can find out more about how loanwords from English have been modified to fit the Finnish consonant and vowel system.

5.1. Foreign consonants

Some consonants (e.g. b, d, g) don’t occur naturally in native Finnish words. With loanwords from Swedish, there was a strong tendency to replace these consonants with more Finnish sounds. This is common because Swedish loanwords are usually older than those borrowed from English. Current Finnish is much more open to new sounds than Finnish was a hundred years ago. In particular, b and g often retain their foreign sound when adopted to Finnish through an English loanword.

Change Examples
b = b to boo > buuata; to dub > dubata
g = g to google > googlate; to tag > tägätä
g > k to google > “kuuklata”
sh = sh to shave > sheivata
z > ts to zoom > zoomata “tsuumata”
w > v to wok > vokata; to tweet > tviitata
x > ks to text > tekstata; to mix > miksata
ch = ts to chat > chatata; to chill > chillata
ch > ts to chat > tsätätä; to check > tsekata

5.2. Consonant Clusters

With Swedish loanverbs we saw that consonant clusters were often simplified (e.g. raahata from draga and kuurata from skura). For Swedish words, even double consonants such as sk, tr and fr were often reduced to a single consonant.

With English verbs, there are far fewer of these simplifications. Consonant clusters of two consonants are kept as they are. Triple consonant clusers are also often retained for verbs that seem to be borrowed from English.

Cluster Examples
bl = bl blogata, blondata, bluffata
br = br breikata, briiffata
fl = fl flirtata, flopata
kl = kl klikata, kloonata
sp = sp sparrata, spinnata
sk = sk skannata, skeitata
spl = spl splitata
spr = spr spreijata
str = str striimata, stressata
mpl = mpl sämplätä

5.3. Pronunciation of Vowels

Different languages have different types of vowels. The amount and frequency of vowels used also differs. This is already noticeable when taking English only: English pronunciation can differ a lot based on where it’s spoken (e.g. British vs. American English). Because of this, it’s impossible in this article to fully compare the English and the Finnish vowel systems. The English vowel system pictured below is for standard BBC English.

5.3.1. Finnish vowel pronunciation based on English pronunciation

When a word is borrowed from English, there are two possible ways to deal with vowel differences. First, we can retain the English vowel sound of the word and match the Finnish spelling with the pronounciation. In these cases, Finnish is also very sensitive to long vowel sounds and diphthongs (ei). One exception is the English /oʊ/ in “yoga” and “yodel”, which gets /oo/ instead in Finnish.

English Finnish
brief, tweet, lease briiffata, twiitata, liisata
boo, boot, tune buuata, buutata, tuunata
chat, sample tsätätä, sämplätä
break, shave, mail breikata, sheivata, meilata
yoga, clone, code joogata, kloonata, koodata

5.3.2. Finnish vowel pronunciation based on English spelling

Alternatively, we can adhere to the English spelling rather than the pronunciation. In these cases, the pronunciation of the Finnish word will generally match up with the spelling. Take for example the verbs “to dub” /dʌb/ and “to surf” /sɜːf/. These have been adopted into Finnish based on their spelling: dubata and surffata. Both of these verbs get the Finnish /u/ sound.

The same happens for English verbs that have an -a- in them. For example, the verbs “to scan” /skæn/ and “to start” /stɑːrt/ are adopted into Finnish based on their spelling: skannata and startata. Both of these verbs have a different sound for the -a- in English, but Finnish replaces that sound with the typical Finnish /ɑ/.

The most interesting of these by far is the vowel -y-. The verbs “to sync” /sɪŋk/ and “to psyche” /ˈsaɪk/ will have the typical /y/ sound in Finnish: synkata and psyykata. This amuses many people because, for example, the messaging software Skype is pronounced very differently from English, even though the spelling matches up perfectly.

English Finnish
dub, dump, surf dubata, dumpata, surffata
scan, fax, start skannata, faksata, startata
lobby, log, mob lobata, logata, mobata
sync, psyche synkata, psyykata

5.3.3. Both spellings possible, one pronunciation

The system isn’t completely transparent or logical, with some words allowing for both spellings in Finnish. However, these words often only have one pronunciation, despite their spelling being less set in stone. I am marking the Finnish spelling that’s used for the pronunciation in purple.

English Finnish
to boot bootata, buutata
to zoom zoomata, tsuumata
to mail mailata, meilata
to sample samplata, sämplätä
to google googlata, guuglata
to chat chatata, tsätätä

5.4. Vowel Harmony

Generally, loanwords which are similar to English verbs will adhere to the general Finnish vowel harmony rules: the vowels a, o and u won’t appear in the same word as the vowels ä, ö and y.

The only exceptions to this seem to be verbs that have an -y- in the first syllable.

English Finnish
to lynch lynkata (not lynkätä)
to psyche psyykata (not psyykätä)
to sympathize sympata (not sympätä)
to sync synkata (not synkätä)

5.5. Consonant Gradation

I have a separate article all about verbtype 4 consonant gradation in general, which gives you a good basis to compare this section to!

In general, loanverbs that look like English do undergo consonant gradation. You will find the three most common consonant gradation changes: k > kk, p > pp and t > tt.

Finnish Present and past tense
blokata minä blokkaan, minä blokkasin
breikata minä breikkaan, minä breikkasin
feikata minä feikkaan, minä feikkasin
irkata minä irkkaan, minä irkkasin
klikata minä klikkaan, minä klikkasin
linkata minä linkkaan, minä linkkasin
lynkata minä lynkkaan, minä lynkkasin
meikata minä meikkaan, minä meikkasin
narkata minä narkkaan, minä narkkasin
psyykata minä psyykkaan, minä psyykkasin
rankata minä rankkaan, minä rankkasin
rokata minä rokkaan, minä rokkasin
spiikata minä spiikkaan, minä spiikkasin
stalkata minä stalkkaan, minä stalkkasin
synkata minä synkkaan, minä synkkasin
tsekata minä tsekkaan, minä tsekkasin
vokata minä vokkaan, minä vokkasin
dipata minä dippaan, minä dippasin
doupata minä douppaan, minä douppasin
dumpata minä dumppaan, minä dumppasin
flopata minä floppaan, minä floppasin
larpata minä larppaan, minä larppasin
karpata minä karppaan, minä karppasin
kidnapata minä kidnappaan, minä kidnappasin
mopata minä moppaan, minä moppasin
pimpata minä pimppaan, minä pimppasin
skipata minä skippaan, minä skippasin
stripata minä strippaan, minä strippasin
sympata minä symppaan, minä symppasin
teipata minä teippaan, minä teippasin
buutata minä buuttaan, minä buuttasin
bootata minä boottaan, minä buuttasin
chatata minä chattaan, minä chattasin
tsätätä minä tsättään, minä tsättäsin
deitata minä deittaan, minä deittasin
flirtata minä flirttaan, minä flirttasin
printata minä printtaan, minä printtasin
putata minä puttaan, minä puttasin
skeitata minä skeittaan, minä skeittasin
splitata minä splittaan, minä splittasin
startata minä starttaan, minä starttasin
tviitata minä tviittaan, minä tviittasin
twiitata minä twiittaan, minä twiittasin

In addition to k, p and t, the consonants b and g will also be doubled for some of these loanverbs, as you can see from the table below. Notice how joogata “to practice yoga” doesn’t follow the same pattern. This is due to the fact that the -a- at the end of “yoga” appears in the English word as well.

Finnish Origin Present and past tense
dubata to dub minä dubbaan, minä dubbasin
mobata to mob minä mobbaan, minä mobbasin
lobata to lob minä lobbaan, minä lobbasin
blogata to blog minä bloggaan, minä bloggasin
digata to dig minä diggaan, minä diggasin
logata to log minä loggaan, minä loggasin
tagata to tag minä taggaan, minä taggasin
tägätä to tag minä täggään, minä täggäsin
joogata to yoga minä joogaan, minä joogasin

5.6. No consonant gradation

Lack of consonant gradation can often be explained pretty well.

  1. Verbs that would visually lose their likeness to the English word don’t undergo consonant gradation.
  2. Double consonants won’t change (e.g. mm > mp, nn > nt). Sometimes doing so would create the same problem as #1, but it’s just not done in general.
  3. Certain consonant combinations never have consonant gradation, even in words that aren’t loanwords: -sk-, -st-, -ks-, -sk- and -ft-.
# Finnish Origin Present and past tense
1 bodata bodybuilding minä bodaan, minä bodasin
1 koodata to code minä koodaan, minä koodasin
1 dekoodata to decode minä dekoodaan, minä dekoodasin
1 feidata to fade minä feidaan, minä feidasin
2 hennata henna minä hennaan, minä hennasin
2 skannata to scan minä skannaan, minä skannasin
2 spinnata to spin minä spinnaan, minä spinnasin
2 sparrata to spar minä sparraan, minä sparrasin
2 jammata to jam minä jammaan, minä jammasin
3 multitaskata to multitask minä multitaskaan, minä multitaskasin
3 diskata to disqualify minä diskaan, minä diskasin
3 faksata to fax minä faksaan, minä faksasin
3 fiksata to fix minä fiksaan, minä fiksasin
3 miksata to mix minä miksaan, minä miksasin
3 postata to post minä postaan, minä postasin
3 liftata to lift minä liftaan, minä liftasin

Further reading about loanverbs from English

 

That’s all for these verbs that look like loanverbs from English! Hopefully, as an English speaker, you will have enjoyed reading about these!

Etymology

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