Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site osu-eddie.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!osu-eddie!zwicky
From: zwicky@osu-eddie.UUCP (Elizabeth D. Zwicky)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Hor.Hacking Finnish/Estonian/Hungarian/Turkish
Message-ID: <688@osu-eddie.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 30-Oct-85 13:44:19 EST
Article-I.D.: osu-eddi.688
Posted: Wed Oct 30 13:44:19 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Nov-85 02:41:19 EST
References: <522@tjalk.UUCP>
Reply-To: zwicky@osu-eddie.UUCP (Elizabeth D. Zwicky)
Organization: Ohio State Univ., CIS Dept., Cols, Oh.
Lines: 19

In general, Finnish is not all that irregular; it's just that the regularity
is somewhat more complex than English speakers expect. The only irregular
verb I have come across in Finnish is _olen_, to be, which is irregular
in almost every language in the world. Finnish has a complex
set of ordered phonological rules, and begs to be taught by a linguist,
who can teach the rules, instead of the bare facts. It makes a lot
more sense that way. It isn't any easier, but it makes more sense.

It also has 16 cases, give or take; 2 are almost entirely poetic. 
Telling it by a lack of clusters is misleading though, because it
has clusters medially, just not initially or finally. (The rule is
that only a single consonant can occur next to a boundary; within a 
word clusters can occur where the syllable boundary falls between
the consonants). 

I like it precisely because it is so regular. Spelling is almost completly
phonetic.

 -Elizabeth D. Zwicky