East Finnish culture and dialect are chiefly vested in the Savonians and the Karelians. There is less influence from Scandinavian and Finland-Swedish culture and language. The language is distinguished by vowel-diphthong shifts with respect to the standard language, and the use of palatalization. Epenthetic vowels are added after /l/, /h/ and sometimes /n/ in stressed syllable coda preceding a consonant (e.g. kylmä - kylymä), but this feature is not distinguishing, being also found commonly in most Western Finnish dialects.
Migrants of the last half millennium to central and northern Scandinavia and to Ingria were mainly of East Finnish origin, which is why dialects and languages such as Meänkieli and Ingrian are closer to the East Finnish dialects.
Read more about East Finnish: Subdivisions
Famous quotes containing the words east and/or finnish:
“We have heard all of our lives how, after the Civil War was over, the South went back to straighten itself out and make a living again. It was for many years a voiceless part of the government. The balance of power moved away from it—to the north and the east. The problems of the north and the east became the big problem of the country and nobody paid much attention to the economic unbalance the South had left as its only choice.”
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“A conversation in English in Finnish and in French can not be held at the same time nor with indifference ever or after a time.”
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