Now then, words... I guessed some of those would be beyond the scope of a general dictionary, sorry about that... old words, too...

No worries^_^ I love new words in any language^_^ I aim to get a better dictionary one day, but for now I have wonderful, friendly Finn^_^

Sylissä - "syli" inflected in the inessive. Syli means somebody’s lap, generally, so here it would mean "on the lap" or, I guess more appropriately, "in the arms"...

Kasattu - a form of the verb "kasata", which means to pile or heap, or to build up. I don’t know what this form is called, unfortunately, but it means "built/made of something", in this case, made of kieloista.

Vitivalkoinen - valkoinen you might know, viti is a, hm... some kind of a reinforcing word, emphasising the whiteness of the white... it’s more of a literary/poetic construction, really.

So could you use the viti with other adjectives then? {{curious}}

Käärmeitä - indefinite plural of "käärme", snake.

oddness plural... I saw snake in there but wasn’t 100% sure... is there a rule for that do you know?

Lehmänkieliä - also indef plural, this time of the compound noun "lehmänkieli". Lehmä is a cow, lehmän its genitive, kieli is a tongue. "A cow’s tongue" is a very old name for kielo.

Nuorikkonsa - basically, "his/her young wife". Nuorikko is another old word, and besides "young/recently acquired wife" I suspect it can also be used to denote any young woman... don’t take my word for it, though.

Leivänpaistajan - genitive of "leivänpaistaja", a compound noun made of leivän (genitive of leipä ) and paistaja (baker, in this context). Bread-maker might be an appropriate translation.

Leigh *Shwin* Erickson replies: "Pretty Finnish... Thank you so very, very, very much Panu^_^ I’ll see if I can make a more fleshed out translation... did what I had sound correct? That English looks wrong... {{stares at own language but can’t place it}} >.< I’ll go back to Finnish... uimapuku! ^_^"

[waves goodnight/morning to Leigh]

Leigh *Shwin* Erickson replies: "{{grins to see the Cecily on her page and waves cheerfully back}} ^_^"

A bean...? Um, a few for Aldora... "jaazi" might be a more recent example. Do you tend to base your languages on existing Earth ones, or how do you come with the ideas for them?

Aye, a bean. My sister calls me a bean when she’s annoyed with me... we have very random words in my family to that end... our own very strange dialect I suppose... cats are doahs, for another example... what does jaazi mean? Is it pronounced with a ’ya’ for the ’j’ or the way I’d say it? Hum... I suppose the grammars are partially based on Earth languages... I use my synesthesia a lot in order to come up with vocabulary... and sometimes I just try to be as different as I can with my grammar... or try out some odd part of speech or grammatical intricacy...

Heh, uimapuku... I can see how that would sound funny. Not having Skype wouldn’t be a problem, it’s free to download off the net... not having a mic might be a bigger problem. Oh, I have a kewl voice? She’s the one with a kewl voice... quite unexpected but thoroughly delightful. Hope I’ll get to talk to her again...

Oh it’s quite hilarious... especially because the software I use was alternating between uimapuku and uimahousut and I was starting to crack up quite badly... rannerengas is amusing, too, though I’m not sure I spelled that correctly... can you tell I’m on clothing at the moment? ^_~ And aye, she said you have a kewl voice {{nods}} you like Em’s voice? What did you expect it to be like? I like Em^_^ And it’s the lack of a mic that is my problem, aye...

Um, viti only goes with valkoinen. No idea why that is though, since vitivihreä would be quite interesting for a colour.

Oddness... is there any other way to put emphasis on an adjective or colour? Or would you teach me another poetic construction that is cool like that? I like it...

Er, there might be, but I was never taught it.

Well, you know the grammar from the inside out as well... I’m trying to do the outside in approach... käärme reminds me of blood for some reason, the word I mean... {{stole dots again}}

You were well on the right track with the idea, just ask me if you’re having trouble. Uimapuku! Heheh, it is a funny word...

Leigh *Shwin* Erickson replies: "Thank you! I’m so glad you’re so willing to help me out with all this... I’m slowly getting the language... it’s just tough since I don’t really have much to practice with... I should be getting children’s books at some point... I’m part of a swap site and found a woman from Finland who said she would send me books in exchange for some craft supplies so I’m excited... she was happy I was learning Finnish which made me happy... but I’m rambly apparently... sorry about that^_~
It is... it is amusing in English too if it is just randomly said... Swimsuit!"

Heheh... ah, so how does that work? Could you give me an example of a synesthesia-derived word? Jaazi are... kind of supernatural entities, I’m not exactly sure. Comparable to demons and angels, I suspect. DZAA-zeh would be pretty close to how I imagine it pronounced...

Well, colours are obvious ones... olorel, for example, is black... because ’o’ is black to me and makes words dark... l and e are dark blue and r is forest green, making it a dark word... though the l is lighter than I like... um... and wis is pink... w being pink and s being red but i being white... like that... otherwise I take the feel of the word in English, usually--the feel of the meaning or, more like--and try to convert that to other letters that have a similar (or even more accurate feel...) for example serenad is shadow... they are both very soft words... shadow has a... ***** willow like texture and mist to it... so I used similarly soft letters (to me) to make the word... all examples are in my maiel language (main race in DT)... ’s called chairi if you wanted to know...
Ah, cool cool. I don’t know anything about Aldora I’m afraid... cool cool. {{was curious}}

I’m... not sure. Somehow less rich, maybe, not quite as powerful and smooth. Hehe, have you heard her sing? Anne mentioned she has a lovely singing voice, so now I’m convinced to trick her into singing for me somehow...

{{nodsnods}} It is interesting how we create voices and ideas of people when we meet online... have you ever met someone in person that you first met online? I find it the strangest thing... like meeting a new person that you already know... hmm... I’ve heard her singing to herself but never singing proper... she does have a nice voice, aye... she’s very musically talented, actually... beautiful on the fiddle, Native American flute, and penny whistle that I’ve heard... I like Em^_^ I highly encourage tricking her into singing... though you could maybe just ask? They did that to her in Ireland, you know...

Oh, you can combine all kinds of things with colour words, Finnish is quite flexible in terms of compound nouns. Syvänsininen (deep blue) might be another, though you can use syvä for other words too... but it does alliterate in the same way as viti.

Really? {{most curious}} Truly, the more I learn about it the more I like it... Pretty! How else would you use syvä? Could you say syväpunainen or some such then? Even if it doesn’t alliterate? Or syvävihreä?

Heh, yeah... getting in touch with other Finns might be a very good idea indeed... after all my use of the language might be biased. Getting hold of a Finnish teacher would be ideal, of course...

Leigh *Shwin* Erickson replies: "Well, she’s just sending me books... otherwise not really talking to her^_~ I just want children’s books that I might read and practice that way... and I keep listening to Finnish music as I find it and amuse myself with the words I know... and I know... one would think there would be someone in the area... though we’re mostly Swedish here... it’s very rare not to find someone with Swedish blood where I live... should see ’Johnson’ in the phone book... goes on for pages^_~

It thunders! How is the Panu today if I might ask?"

Mm, chairi sounds like a vowel-rich language...

Aye... it was influenced by Elvish and French mostly... my first language, what can I say... kembayne is more consonant-y... I have a hard time making harsh tongues, though...

Ay, it is interesting. Can’t say I’ve had the chance, since everybody I know on-line are from overseas. I can see what you mean, though... With voices, I find I tend to associate people with stereotypes I’m familiar with based on how they feel - Shanra feels fluffy and is disorganised-meticulous, so I imagine her talking in a careful girly voice (which I suspected and now know to be a false assumption, naturally); I imagine Cecily talking rather like the archetypal laconic gunslinger (gee, I wonder why...) and you, well, I think I equate you with some kind of a songbird. So ay, it is interesting.

Aye... I’ve been lucky that way... having met Cecily, Emily, and Brandi... and Gabs... you knew Gabs, aye? {{trying to remember old, old Elfy days}} {{very interested in voice ramble}} How would you describe your voice? {{most curious}} Aye, I’ve heard all their voices, and what was strangest for me was realising that Cecily spoke with a British accent... sort of... a soft one at least to my ears... I have a semi-deep voice, actually... though it gets high at times... especially when I’m nervous... I don’t know how I’d expect your voice to be... I suppose when/if I hear it I’ll be able to tell you if it held to my expectations or not^_~

I kind of semi-asked her already. I’ll let her decide if she’s brave enough to sing, I suppose...

I hope you do get to hear her {{nods}} I’d love to see her act some day...

Syvän. You have to use it in genitive, though I don’t know why. But yes, you can combine it with most any colour word I can think of... with the obvious exception of white, since you don’t say "deep white" in English either. Not commonly, anyway.

Ah... right right. I need to get back on grammar... vocab has been distracting me of late... along with Morse Code... every morning after breakfast it’s time to study Finnish and Morse... I suppose I almost associate the two now^_~

Well, lack of thunders is a detrimental factor, but quite fine. Yourself?

Leigh *Shwin* Erickson replies: "Aw... we just got back from the county fair... the ride home was beautiful as there was a bank of lightninging clouds ahead and stars above and the moon, all orangey-pink and unusually large just above the trees to the east... I was glad to leave but did have fun... just too much sensory input there^_~ So I’m about to go to sleep... how are you time-wise in relationship to England again? I know it’s 5AM there but have no idea for you... should be asleep here in an hour or so... do you fall asleep easily?"

Oh, I knew Gabs... Any idea what she’s doing these days?

Aye... I think that’s where I saw your name first was talking with Gabs... I have no idea what she’s doing, no, which is unfortunate. She’s popped on to Elfwood a couple times but you’re likely as updated with her as I am... I’m reminded of her daily, though, as she crocheted me a blanket which is in my room... I thought that was very special of her to do... ’s pretty^_^ Er... is this correct? Huopa on violetti ja vihreä. Or is there a case in there somewhere I’m missing? {{hasn’t studied this so is just guessing}} Finally on the right keyboard to make ä things!

I can’t really describe my voice, I’m afraid... I don’t get people giving me feedback on it, and I don’t get to listen to it myself, and you know how your voice sounds different in your own ears than it does to others. Not too deep, that’s all I can say. I do know that my father and brothers and I have similar voices, so much so that people confuse us over the telephone... and sometimes even in the house, when they can’t see who’s talking. Which causes funny mix-ups...

{{nodsnods}} Aye... mine sounds higher to me than it really sounds from the recordings of myself I’ve heard... heh... that sounds like my mom, sister, and me... in fact once one person wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise and thought I was my mom during an entire (quick) conversation... well, I hope I will hear yours one day... in the meantime I will speculate^_~

That does sound very pretty, clouds and stars... Um, two hours ahead. Here, have a world clock: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

Ah, so it was 7AM then for you... so you’re 7 hours ahead of me then... making it 8PM there now... oddness... thanks! I’ve always been quite fascinated by time zones... time is so odd...

Depends. I sleep pretty easily on the whole. Leastwise when I keep regular bedtimes and have a cool summer... sleeping in hot weather is worse...

Leigh *Shwin* Erickson replies: "Are you an early or late person to that end? I try to be early but I think I’m not really either...in Japan I was early as I got up around 40AM most days... but then I don’t need much sleep so that’s helpful... {{rambles}}"

She did? That’s very nice of her. Sounds like a pretty blanket, too... Hyvää työtä, pian sujuu sulta suomen kieli! And hurray for umlauting keyboards!

She did indeed^_^ And it was very nice... I was quite touched I was! She gave it to me when we went up to visit her... she had spread it on ’my’ bed for the visit... happy happy^_^ Ha! I don’t know about soon, but I hope to be... what is sulta, by the way? (see?^_~)

Heheh, goes with the family, apparently. Hm, I wonder if there’s a way for me to record my voice and post it over the internet... there probably is, only right now I’ve not the brainpower to go look for it... but yes, in the meantime, we will speculate.

Aye... Well, do you have any manner of recorder? Can your mic record? Only I know if I’m on another computer I can record my voice but we don’t have a mic... would you like to hear mine? {{curious}}

Agreed, time is odd. This would be 6PM for you, by the way.

Except I don’t think it was as I got that comment at 40PM yesterday... where do you have me?

I prefer undisturbed sleep during mornings, but more so because of the good dreams... which I haven’t recorded in a while, come to think of it. How sloppy of me! Have you had any good dreams recently?

Leigh *Shwin* Erickson replies: "{{nods}} This does make sense... I suppose most of the more memorable dreams happen then... Well, get recording, then! I like dreams^_^ Um... I don’t know about good... I had one involving dragons with frosted wings the other night... last night’s was just... odd. Involved tornadoes and getting caught on the highway without a car (dodging semis... not fun...) and wading through manure while being a tourist at my own grandparent’s farm... {{shrugs}} I enjoy dreams for their unpredictable nature I’d say^_~"

Hee... oh, um, yes. Sulta is actually a spoken language contraction of sinulta, which you may know is sinä in the ablative. Very few people actually say "sinulta" in day to day conversation...

Ah... I do see... yay for spoken Finnish! {{hoards this tidbit}} I like Finnish^_^ In case you didn’t already know that...

Don’t worry, I got it figured out already. Mm, we could trade voice posts, might be fun... I think I’d like to hear your singing, if possible. What would you like to hear from me?

Yay! I would love that! Er... me singing? Well, I could do that but I warn you I don’t have much of a voice... what would you have me sing? Oh... I’d be curious to hear your voice in general... something in Finnish just to hear how Finnish sounds from you... mostly English, though, as I’m just curious how you sound... if you sing, I wouldn’t mind that either, though no worries^_^

Ugh, the smiley invades the time zones... ah, it’s nearing 10AM now. By this time I hope you’re fast asleep.

I know >.< I don’t like it... sorry about that... I was asleep then, aye... though a half hour later I was woken to unusually bright moonlight shining through my window... I usually wake up around then anyway, though, moonlight or no^_~ Light, fitful sleeper that I am...

Frosted-wing dragons sound awesome... I’ll, uh, make a point of remembering my next dream. Last night, I can dimly recall it being about boxing and cakes...

Leigh *Shwin* Erickson replies: "I did enjoy them... the rest of the dream was odd, however^_~ Yay! Boxing and cakes? Together? That would be interesting^_~
How did writing go today?"

Hehehe... the occasional reminder is fun, of course. It actually depends on the person’s accent/dialect whether it’s sult, sulta, siulta, sinult, or something else... I’m not a Finnish dialect expert, I only know I’d likely say sult or sulta.

Well... I like finding new words, too... why so much variation on that do you know? And do you have a dialect while I’m at it? Only I know I talk dialect with Shanra frequently and I think I know Finnish has dialects...

Oh! I’d somehow got the impression you sang also. Pardon. You don’t need to sing if that’s not your forte... then, a general voice post would be nice. I’m not much of a singer either, so I’ll pass... I might read Kalevala at you, since I dug it out on a whim yesterday. Or something else Finnish. I haven’t actually decided what my voice post will include yet... I’ll get to it next week, as I don’t think I’ve very many opportunities this weekend. My brother’s coming home and all.

No worries^_^ I do sing sometimes, but I’m more an instrumentalist^_~ I will ramble at you, then, and ditto next week here... just because it’s easier to record such things when no one’s about and it is the weekend so everyone’s home... no worries^_~ Yay for Kalevala! That sounds nice^_^ Let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like to hear me say or anything like that...

You woke up to moonlight? Cool... Is it hot over there?

I did... it was a pleasant awakening... very bright... I had to squint at it... the window over my, um, ’bed’ faces east you see... it’s... you’re in Celsius, aye? It’s around 25C on average over here at the moment... though last night it dipped down to under 20 in the evening and even cooler through the night... I’ll leave you to judge whether that’s hot or not... I don’t think so... you?

Oh, ay, my friends were in it and we were professional boxers or something... but then we were in a bakery also, and some dolt couldn’t keep his fingers off the cake. I don’t think I punched them, though it’d have fit the dream... Ah, writing was/is surprisingly good today. Might have caught the twins again. Yourself?

Leigh *Shwin* Erickson replies: "That is highly amusing^_^ What sort of cake was it? I’m glad to hear it! Very glad indeed. Say, when you do your voice post thing, would you say their names so I can hear them properly pronounced? My priests are talkative as it were... I’ve been dealing with a young flute maker at the moment... he is the apprentice to perhaps my kindest priest... slowly getting to know that world."

Probably because it’s one of the commonest words to turn up in day to day communication... English has loads of accent variation too, it’s not that different from that. My dialect would be a southern one, of the "Proper Finland" region, but it’s not distinctive enough to really amount to much. It’s a pretty boring dialect. But then, who am I to say...

This is true and does make sense... and this is true, also. I know my short ’a’s and ’o’s are distinct to where I live^_~ And I do see... what do you think is an exciting dialect, then? I know I don’t like my accent^_~

A good plan. I’ll let you know if I can think of anything for you to say.

Okay^_^ Ditto here... I look forward to it^_^

Hm, that sounds pleasant enough. It’s been relatively cool here, but during the past few days it’s been getting hotter. Not too hot for sleeping yet, which is good.

Aye, it’s been nice... I can walk further as it’s cooler earlier, which I love... sorry to hear it’s getting hotter over there for you! That’s no fun... do you sleep with a window open? I had a dream last night there was a bear outside my window when I woke...

Creamy. I’m surprised the dream didn’t turn into a farce. Um, I’ll try... you see, I’ve never really had to think how their names sound. I have a couple of variations though, I’ll try those... A flute maker sounds pretty. Is he an angry young man?

Leigh *Shwin* Erickson replies: "^_^ That would have been entertaining... aye, I know how that goes. I suppose I’m just curious of the gist of it... thanks^_^ Heh... aye, he will get that way if they go according to initial outline... Right now they’ve only just met... I’m not sure what set him off... he’s just a boy at the moment."