The Finnish grammar and most Finnish words are very different from those in other European languages, because Finnish is not an Indo-European language. The two other national languages that are Uralic languages as Finnish are Estonian and Hungarian. Estonians and Finns usually may understand each other, but their languages are very different. Even though Finnish and Hungarian are related languages, they do not look or sound similar. The Finnish and Hungarian languages separated a long time ago, and each language developed its own vocabulary. People who can speak Finnish cannot understand Hungarian without extra study, and Hungarians cannot understand Finnish. However, there are some basic words that are very similar, for example: 'hand' (Finnish 'käsi' vs. Hungarian 'kéz') 'to go' (Finnish 'mennä' vs. Hungarian 'menni'), 'fish' (Finnish 'kala' vs. Hungarian 'hal').
Finnish is a synthetic and an agglutinative language. This means that words in Finnish have a stem called "body", and other parts inside them which make up the meaning. Finnish is similar in this respect to the Japanese language, Turkish language, and Latin language. In Finnish, there are 17 cases/word types (sanatyypit). You can think of a "case" as an ending added to a word that helps describe its purpose in the sentence. Verbs have 5 tempora (present tense, past tense, perfect, pluperfect and future tense). In addition, verbs have two participle (active and passive) cases. Gerunds, which are nouns made from verbs (for example: reading - to read) also exist in Finnish (lukeminen - lukea), are abundant in Finnish.
Finnish is a complex, self-morphing language. It has been ranked as a highly difficult language for native speakers of English by the U.S. Department of State. The difficulty is due not only to the grammatical structure of the language, but also pronunciation and intonation as compared to English.
Finnish is pronounced the way it is spelled. The pronunciation of some letters is similar to English. However:
English speakers often exhale when saying letters like "k", "p", and "t". They don't do this in Finnish, and to "swallow the sound", as the old saying goes, takes a lot of practice.
The proper pronunciation for the Finnish diphthongs (öy, yö, äy, eu, etc.) is difficult.
Sleep
Sleep is a state of resting, which happens in animals, including humans. During sleep, most of the muscles that animals can otherwise control are not active, re-gaining the energy for the next time they wake up. Animals during sleep are usually in an unconscious, relaxed state. Like most animals, healthy sleep in humans takes place at night. Asleep describes the condition where animals are in the process of sleeping. During this time, they will not react as quickly (if at all) as they would if they were awake. They can, however, wake up from sleep more easily than from hibernation or coma. All mammals, birds, many reptiles, amphibians, and fish, have a sleep cycle. In humans, other mammals, and most other animals that were studied, regular sleep is essential for survival.
Sleep is extremely important to human health and well-being. Humans and animals need sleep in order for their bodies to be prepared for the next day. Everyday activities, one’s appearance, and how one expresses oneself all rely on this necessity. If one is tired (from not getting enough sleep), one will not be able to function properly in common activities. Being sleep-deprived leads to struggling to remember information, altering one’s mood, health, and a number of other effects. Sleep deprivation (not allowing a person enough sleep) can even be used as torture. Also, the immune system releases compounds known as cytokines which are used to help fight inflammation and infection. If a person does not receive enough sleep, they will not have enough cytokines to protect them from getting sick. The body may not have time to complete memory recollection, muscle repair, and release hormones that regulate growth and appetite.
During the day time, the Sun is out and most people are awake. They work, go to school, or complete daily errands and activities. Many people sleep for a short time in the early afternoon for a quick rest or because they are not able to sleep during the day. This is called a nap. A successful nap should run between 15-30 minutes, and longer naps taking 30-60 minutes will result in feeling dazed and less attentive.
In some countries, most notably where the weather is warm, there is a tradition to take a nap right after noon, or early in the afternoon. This tradition is called "siesta", and is most common in Spain and Latin America. Some stores and services close while their owners and/or employees take their "siesta".
The word "sleep" comes from the old Old Germanic verbs for sleep. In Old and Middle High German it was called "SLAF". The original meaning of the word was "to slap", which was related to the word for "flabby" (not hard or firm).
Many words related to "sleep" have very different meanings, though. For example, "sleep" may be used to mean death, so that "putting an animal to sleep" means to kill the animal without pain. "Sleep with someone" can also have a sexual meaning.
Generally, the reason for sleep is that the brain needs it. The details are not fully understood, but it is important to get enough sleep for the body and the brain to be healthy and work properly. Usually animals (and people) sleep at periodic intervals, such as once a day. Certain animals send out signals to the others that they will soon go to sleep. Yawning is such a signal.
Both humans and many animals sleep about once a day. Some animals, such as cats, sleep many times a day for short periods.
When people sleep they often have dreams. Probably some animals do, too.
Not only people sleep, but all mammals and birds, and most fish, reptiles and other animals also do.
There are four stages during sleep:
While humans sleep, REM and NREM are sleep patterns that help with long term memory, remembering information, procedural memory, and creative thinking.
In mammals and birds, sleep can be divided into two categories. In one of them, the eyes move rapidly. It is called REM-sleep (rapid eye movement). Most dreams take place in this phase. also the body is becoming relaxed, and the eyes move while sleeping. This phase helps prepare one for the next day.REM-sleep occurs normally at intervals throughout the night, and the periods of REM-sleep increase in length in the second half of the night. It is often encountered 90 minutes after falling asleep and continues to occur every 90 minutes. REM-sleep was first discovered in 195253.
REM sleep is found in mammals and songbirds, but is "poorly established" in reptiles and fish. A survey suggests:
The other category, where this movement of the eyes does not happen, is called NREM-sleep (Non-REM sleep). Usually, dreams do not occur during this time. There are three or four stages of NREM-sleep. Stage I is just barely sleeping, or dozing. Stage II is also light sleep. Normally, in adult humans, about half of the time spent asleep is spent in light sleep. Stages III and IV are called deep sleep. Deep sleep is necessary for growth and healing. It can be quite difficult to awaken someone who is in stage III or stage IV sleep. Sometimes stages III and IV are combined and called stage III.
Adult humans normally sleep in cycles of 90 to 110 minutes each. The night's sleep can be 4 or 5 of these cycles. Each cycle includes, in this order: stage I, stage II, stage III (IV), and REM.
People who regularly get less than 8 hours of sleep a night tend to complain more and feel very fatigued throughout the day. Getting the appropriate amount of sleep is extremely important as it could affect one’s body and increase the chances of serious health problems. For each age, there are different amounts of sleep that are recommended:
- Toddlers (4 to 12 months): 12 to 16 hours (w/ naps)