These are the current conventions recommended by the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland. The conventions have also been adopted by the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names: • Finnish place names are used in the
Finnic languages (such as Finnish and
Estonian). Swedish place names are used in the
North Germanic languages (such as
Swedish and
Norwegian). Sami place names are used in the different Sami languages around northern Fennoscandia. • In other languages, if that language doesn’t already have an established toponym for the place (very seldom), the choice between Finnish and Swedish toponyms is based on the demographic situation. Finnish place names are used when handling a municipality where Finnish is the majority language (90% of all municipalities, 93% of the cities). Swedish place naming is used when handling a municipality where Swedish is the majority language. Concerning the Sami Homeland, toponyms are written in Finnish and appended with the Sami place names. The convention concerning street names and traffic signs maintains that the majority language toponym is presented topmost and place names in the minority languages are listed below.
Possible deviations in the conventions A few exonyms (in
Medieval or
Neo-Latin, not in use in Finland or Sweden) exist for Finland’s provincial structures. These include the names of the nine historical provinces (Fi: maakunta, Sw: landskap) that have given names to some of Finland’s current regions (Fi: maakunta, Sw: landskap, altogether 20 as of 1997). These may fall under the category of "already established place names in foreign languages" mentioned in the above recommendations. The names of the nine historical provinces in Finnish, Swedish and English : :1. Varsinais-Suomi fi; Egentliga Finland sv;
Finland Proper en :2.
Uusimaa fi, en; Nyland sv :3.
Satakunta fi, sv, en :4. Häme fi; Tavastland sv;
Tavastia en :5.
Savo fi, en; Savolax sv :6. Karjala fi; Karelen sv;
Karelia en :7. Pohjanmaa fi; Österbotten sv;
Ostrobothnia en :8. Lappi fi; Lappland sv;
Lapland en :9. Åland sv, en; Ahvenanmaa fi
Guidelines for naming new places In urban planning, new names are needed for different places. Suburbs, streets, parks and other areas must be named. In bilingual municipalities, the task is complicated by the need to use two different languages in the toponyms. As all municipalities in the Finnish capital region, which is the most swiftly developing area in Finland, are bilingual, the problem of devising good toponyms is not a small task. The
Research Institute for the Languages of Finland has given guidelines for devising new toponyms. The basic principle is to use toponyms already in use and spell them according to the modern language norms. As the old toponym for a minor place, such as a field, often exist only in one language, they should be translated with care. Only such names which carry an identifiable meaning should be translated directly. If the toponym already exists in both languages, the existing forms should be used. If the translation of the name is unfeasible and there exists no toponym in the other language, then the toponym should be loaned in its original form. Personal names should not be translated. However, if the existing name is unusable in the other language for phonetic or grammatical reasons, a new name may be freely invented. The cases where two municipalities are fused together, create a special case for the construction of toponyms. There are two simple cases for the name selection: • smaller municipalities joining a city: the name of the city should be used • municipalities which have been chapel parishes joining the municipality which has been the mother parish: the name of the historical mother parish should be used. In other cases, the toponym should be selected from the historical toponyms of the area. In many cases, there are historical administrative structures that have encompassed the area of the merging municipalities. If such names are unusable, the name of some the most prominent villages in the area should be used. To reduce the possibility of confusion, the new name should not include the name of the province or the region. In no case should the name be made up of two parts, because the use of such name is grammatically difficult in Finnish language. The names of the merger projects or frivolous names should also be avoided at all costs. there are too many different inflections.) Anyhow long story long: Hi, I do not think it is applicable, there is -more than 180.000 lakes size larger than 500m2, locations&names of those and towns/villages near them inflected, same -goes for rivers, islands, capes etc. (and ofc locations nearby) as most of them inflect differently, -some rules (Joroinen->Joroisissa) are beyond me (I am almost sure it has something to do with those vocals being there, we cannot pronounce it without a more or less special case in naming) -also there is the naming convention(I changed a dead link in reference to point to new instructions on naming(anything)) -AND on top of it all there is ongoing major reshaping&combining&namechanging of municipalities etc starting at the moment (12/2015-) (this is not the one older renaming & reshaping that is discussed in another location in-text) -also, a new/not liked name can be freely shaped/changed considering local custom, ancient names etc instructions which are given in another link up there, Nimistönsuunnittelu (I updated, Finnish), after suggested&inspected&tc can be voted on change But it is simple after you speak just few words in the language, see
KOTUS (KOTUS is both required by law and is really needed) and then see some locations in http://www.kotus.fi/julkaisut/nimijulkaisut/paikannimijulkaisut/kuntien_nimet_ja_niiden_taivutus - it includes Swedish language names where applicable, i.e. where 8% or more speak (first language) Swedish/Finnish or locals want(in very many cases)...). Swedish were in parentheses I seem to recall. Also even some major town names are going to change now when they join with nearby counties (when it happens, "soon"). OFC mail comes via direct name of the location so inflections not needed there either. Also, why add more references to KOTUS pages, everyone who understands Finnish/Swedish knows these inflections OR can search KOTUS's site. Foreigners can inflect the few names they need/use or just speak English (mostly understood well). Or use non-inflected versions, we understand, trust me. Feel free to remove my extra ramblings as required, Suchros --> ==Literature==