witty leaks WITTY IN THIS SERIES, DIPLOMATS SHARE PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF THEIR EXPERIENCES ON “EXCURSIONS” L A K into Hungarian culture, art, gastronomy & scenery.

WHYRELATIVE AND CONSIDERLANGUAGE THEMSELVES BROTHERS RELATIVES

BY FINNISH AMBASSADOR PETRI TUOMI-NIKULA

There is one thing above all that was the case especially during the Finnish connects and . Prohibition Act in 1919-32 when, I presume, Regardless of country, continent, the visits to Hungary were even more popular. time of day or weather, representatives In the 1939 Finnish Winter War, Stalin attacked of these two countries always have to Finland with the intention of attaching our country explain what the connection is between to the Soviet Union. Hungary was one of the few Finnish and Hungarian . countries who sent a battalion of volunteers to What is this peculiar, Finno-Ugric language help the Finns. In the 1956 Hungarian uprising, family that both are part of? For Finns, is it Finland was one of the countries, in proportion easy to learn Hungarian? Do you understand to its population, that supported Hungary most. each other readily? Or is there even any When Hungary applied for EU membership, relationship between you? These are the the Finnish political elite made the conditions questions we often get. This, of course, does as easy as possible for Hungarians. After the not apply only to diplomats. The topic arises in change of regime in Hungary, Nokia was the any get- where Finns and Hungarians biggest export company in Hungary for years. meet people speaking different . There are countless examples of exceptional For all of you who are interested: the situation co-operation and will to understand and help is not easy for us, either. The connection that each other during the past 200 years. Not one was discovered between these languages at strategic, political, social or economic reason the end of the 18th century has always been a AN SICH (in itself) explains this. Believe it or target of passion and arguments. The affinity compulsory question: why, if Hungarians and to search in our family tree back thousands of not – in the background there is that fragile and between the languages has been emphasized or Finns are relatives or kinsfolk – is there such years to find our first cousins. And when we distant but wonderful affinity of our languages! diminished depending on the political situation a big distance between the two? The Swedish find them, the happiness could not be greater. or one´s own preference. The fact still remains: and the Greeks are not patting each other That is the reason why Finns and Hungarians The power of relationship Hungarian and Finnish languages are related on the back or hugging each other drinking emphasize their connection and brotherhood. For Finns, the relationship to Hungary and - very distantly. The connection originated Retsina or Akvavit just because their languages Hungarian language has always been quite easy. thousands of years ago and cannot be thoroughly are related - even though, their languages Fragile and distant affinity, We have taken advantage of all the fun that explained. There are, and have always been, lots are even more closely related than ours. and this is not all! has come with it. The thought of having black- of theories from a common ancient home in the Not to mention and Russians who, Especially this year, when the 1,000-year-old moustached language relatives in Central Egyptian deserts to aliens from outer-space. compared to us, are almost like identical twins! Finnish nation celebrates the first centennial has always been easy to accept as, besides But what are the similarities? Are there any? of her independence, we should look at the Estonians, we have no other. However, Being alone this issue from a few more perspectives. as early as the beginning of the 19th century, Similarities I think the answer is clear. In addition to the fact This fragile and distant affinity between our Hungarians have had their doubts regarding the For Finns, Hungarian sounds familiar but that Finns and Hungarians are quite laid-back and languages has spawned a lot of benefits true nature of this ‘fish-smelled’ relationship. a bit strange. As if someone was speaking calm, fellows who easily get along – the reason is for both of the countries, and I am not only As far as I understand, there has primarily been Finnish backwards. The impression probably loneliness. As I mentioned earlier, neither Finns thinking of orations or get-togethers. a fear that this would also connect Hungarians comes from the fact that Istváns and nor Hungarians have hardly any close relatives. When, in the beginning of the 19th century, and Finns genetically. For Hungarians, it would Jánoses, like us, the first of The closest language relatives date back the Finns started building their case for have been more elegant to find ancestors for the words. That develops a familiar sound, thousands of years and kilometers historically national independence based on the Finnish example, in an Asian horseback riding nation. a bit of a singing rhythm which differs from and geographically. Estonians make an exception language and culture, one of the references We do not have to worry about this, though. other languages. I think that for Hungarian to the rule. Their language is as close to Finnish for them was Hungary. The Finns wanted to Old and also more recent research shows that ears, Finnish also has the same sound. as Tallinn is to Helsinki: 80 kms! Hence, almost break free from at the same time, the there is nothing that could prove the genetic Grammatically, there are a lot of similarities. shouting distance. Swedes, Slovenes, Germans Hungarians wanted to break free from . link between Finns and Hungarians. Finns find There are no prepositions, only . and have almost too many close Both got an ego-boost from one another. their closest genetic relatives in the area of We say DebrecenBEN or TuruSSA – not relatives to deal with! But us Finns, we have The Hungarian revolution of 1848 was followed the modern Netherlands and Germany and, of IN or IN Turku. We have an with great compassion in Finland – we were course, in and the Baltic countries. incredible amount of grammatical cases in worried about the destiny of our ‘kinsfolk’. The relationship between Finland and Hungary both languages, though, the Hungarians At the end of the 19th century, scientists goes beyond what the eye can see. It is a beat the Finns overwhelmingly. Around and politicians from both countries had vivid connection between languages, which has shaped 300 words of common vocabulary are interaction with each other and after the First the culture of both countries. This is the power recognized by professionals and even World War, it broadened to include the civil of our relationship – it has lasted more than 200 a regular pedestrian on Andrássy út society – before we even knew what to call this years, survived the breakdown of two empires, recognizes around a dozen of them. connection of ours. In the 1920s, the amount the independence of both countries and the Still, ‘being relatives’ is quite relative. of choirs, associations, experts, priests and political and economic uproar of the continent. Our languages are as close to each other cultural delegations that visited Finland from This is the reason Hungarians are treated a bit as German and Russian, or Swedish Hungary - and vice versa – were countless. better than others in Finland and why Finns feel

COURTESY OF EMBASSY OF FINLAND, VIRÁG BARCZA, SA-KUVA and Greek. In our case, the apples have We sought kinship in all areas of culture and we get special treatment here in Hungary. It is fallen a bit further from the tree! when we found some, either real or imagined, a strength we should be proud of and that we

photos by AT this point in our story, comes the it was celebrated enthusiastically. This ought to maintain for the next generations.

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