MIMIC languages are commonly indicated by prepositions. Verbs have but two tenses, present and past, the future tense being expressed by a circumlocution; but their conjugation is very intricate. The language is capable of expressing the nicest shades of meaning. Consult Eliot, Finnish Oman:tar (Oxford. 1s89).
The chief monument of Finnish literature is the koicru/a, a sort of epic poem, whirls until the last century existed only in the memory and on the lips of the peasantry. A collection of some of the scattered parts of this 1100111 was pub lished in 1822 by Zacharias Topelins; Elias Liinnrot, thirteen years later, published a far more complete collection, at the same l ime giv ing to it dm me by which it is now known. Liinnrot wandered from place to place among the peasantry, living with them and taking down from their lips all that they knew of their popular songs. After researches he was successful in collecting 12,07S lines, which he arranged into :32 runes or cantos, and pub lished them exactly as he heard them sung or chanted. Continuing his researches, he pub lished in 1819 a new edition of 22,793 verses, in 50 runes. The import awe of this long-hidden epic was at once recognized in Europe, and trans lations of it were made in several languages. Some specimens of it, were translated into Eng lish by Professor Porter. of Yale, and published in New York in 186S. The entire poem was translated by J. Al. Crawford (1888). It has been several time; translated into Swedish, the first time by Castr5n, and there are versions in German by Anton Schicfner (1852). in French by L. de Due (1868), in Hungarian by Ferdinand Barna (1871). The poem is written in eight syllabled trochaic and an idea of its style may be obtained from Longfellow's 17 in reatha , which approaches a true imitation of the Finnish epic. The Kulerala is concerned entirely with the mythology or folk-lore of the people. In the story there is a certain unity of plot. though the various parts are not perfectly homogeneous, and appear to be the product of different mind; at different periods, the various having evidently received additions in course of time. They probably originated before the Finns were converted to Christianity, and when they were not scattered as they are now. When Dinn rot collected the Kolerala songs he also gathered a considerable quantity of lyric poetry, which he published under the name of lianteletar, from the name of the national instrument to which they are sung—a species of harp with live strings. Of recent Finnish poets the most popular seems to he Paavo Norrlioinen. a a very sar
castic writer. Other modern poets are Alarteska, Net tune!). II ha inen, Oksa selt a. Finnish poets that have used Swedish are treated under SwEa asn LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. The Finns de light in proverbs, Liinnrot having published a collection of upward of 7000, with about 200 charades, while considerable collections of legends and tales have been published. The first printed book in Finnish was probably the.,tbecedarium of Michael „\grieola. Bishop of Abo. which ap peared in the middle of the sixteenth century. A translation of the New Testament by the same bishop appeared in 1548. at Stockholm. The whole Bible was not translated into Finnish till 1642. During the last two centuries there has been considerable literary activity in Finland, and books in almost every branch of research are found in the language, mainly translations or adaptations. Finland is rich in periodicals of all kinds, the publications of the Finnish societies of literature and of the sciences and other learned bodies being specially valuable. Works on Fin nish history and geography are quite numerous. The publication of the Kalerala gave a powerful impetus to the study of the Finnish language, which the Russian Government till recently sus tained by encouraging the cultivation and use of their native tongue by the Finlanders. The upper classes still cling to the use of Swedish, but the peasantry and small landed proprietors wel come with avidity every addition to the limited stock of their printed literature, and Finnish weekly papers circulate freely among them. The prose literature of Finland is almost exclusively devoted to religions and moral subjects.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Donner, Ofrersikt of den PinskBibliography. Donner, Ofrersikt of den Pinsk- rgriska spriikforskilingcns histori• (Helsingfors, 1872) ; id., Veralciehendcs Worterbuch der fin viseh-nyrisehen sprorhen (3 vole.. Helsingfors. 1874-88) ; Sji;gren, Uebc• die finnische Sprache mud ihrc Litteratur (Saint Petersburg. 1821) : IJjfalvy and Hertzberg, Gran/moire finnoise (Paris. 1876) ; Rancken. Le Litteris Historieis Geopraphieis Pennorum (Ilelsingfors, IS51 ) ; El iot, Finnish Grammar (New York, 1891) ; Krohn, Pinsky Litteraturms Historic 1891) ; Mona menta Lingua' Fennicw (Helsing fors• 1893) : Godenhjelm. Handbook of the His tory of Finnish Literature, translated by Butler (London, 1896) ; Bransewetter. Finland ins Bild seiner Diehtu»p (Berlin, 1899) ; Pipping. Zur Phonetik der finnischen Sprache (Helsingfors, 1899).