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:
“The majority of the men of the North, and of the South and East and West, are not men of principle. If they vote, they do not send men to Congress on errands of humanity; but while their brothers and sisters are being scourged and hung for loving liberty,... it is the mismanagement of wood and iron and stone and gold which concerns them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“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.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)