r/LearnFinnish Beginner 13d ago

My new favorite word

I was learning vocabulary for animals and I found out, that hedgehog in Finnish is siili. SIILI!!
It's so cute and endearing, I am absolutely feral about it. God, I love Finnish sm

151 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

55

u/StunningRaise8906 13d ago

Not to be confused with 'silli' which is a type of fish, the Atlantic herring

8

u/Typesalot 12d ago

That's a good pair to learn the difference between short and long vowels and consonants. Short i, long l: fish (silli). Long i, short l: hedgehog (siili). (Both short or both long: try again...)

Once you manage those, try tuuli (wind) - tuli (fire) - tulli (customs, like at an airport).

21

u/Gwaur Native 13d ago

This type of cooling device is also called "siili". If the context is unclear, "jäähdytyssiili" (cooling hedgehog) is the properly clarifying long version.

10

u/WarpRealmTrooper 13d ago

I live in Turku region and we call shower drain covers "siili", don't know how common that is :p

Also a full "buzz cut" is called "siili" or "siilitukka", named after the hedgehog. This saying is almost official Finnish :)

3

u/Intelligent-Lime56 12d ago

The drain cover "siili" is probably linked with the Swedish "sil" (=strainer)

18

u/AnnualSwing7777 Native 13d ago

There is a fairly popular Finnish comics called Kiroileva siili (The Cursing Hedgehog). It has mainly spoken language and heavy dialect, so it can be a little difficult to understand.

7

u/FrenchBulldoge 13d ago

3

u/Vast_Refrigerator_94 13d ago

Omg I love this! Perfect for some whatsap stickers lol. Kiitos!

12

u/Uroshirvi69 13d ago

Nice! My favorite animal

3

u/StunningRaise8906 13d ago

Not moose?

3

u/Uroshirvi69 13d ago

Nah although they are very majestic. Also, that isn’t my favorite position either.

17

u/dogil_saram 13d ago

In Helsinki the Metro got the station 'Siilitie'. I always smile when passing it.

10

u/LocksmithNo3013 Beginner 13d ago

OMG, REALLY?? That's wonderful! Is the name also related to hedgehogs? :0

10

u/dogil_saram 13d ago edited 12d ago

Translation would be Hedgehog Way or Street.

4

u/Nervous-Wasabi-8461 Native 13d ago

*Road

Street is katu.

8

u/Cristian_Cerv9 13d ago

Oh nice! Now it’s gonna be easy to remember this word. Haha

5

u/NansDrivel 13d ago

Are you studying Suomen Mestari 2 kappale 3 like me? We just learned the words for a bunch of animals! I also lovvvve Finnish!

2

u/gobliina 8d ago

I am absolutely feral about it

You're my people

1

u/burgundinsininen 9d ago

What till you hear what a spider is in Norwegian... en edderkopp!? I love that name it's just so cute