© MissReads
A
short introduction to the Finnish Language: hyvä
means good, and Vappu is the Finnish name for May Day (May 1st). The
endings -ä and -a signify the partitive, and in this case it has to be used
because Hyvää Vappua is a greeting. (If
you want to know more about the partitive or other fascinating aspects of
Finnish Grammar go here). Hyvää Vappua therefore means Happy
May Day.
Other
useful holiday greetings are:
Hyvää Joulua
= Merry Christmas.
Hyvää
Pääsiäinen = Happy Easter.
Hyvää Itsenaisyspäivää = Happy
Independence Day.
Just in case you happen to be
stranded in Finland for any of these occasions. The Finns will love you when you're
able to say the appropriate greeting (btw. the ä is not pronounced as [ɛː] (like the German ‘ä’), but as [æ]).
But let’s leave the
linguistics alone for now. Why am I writing a post entitled 'Hyvää Vappua'?
Because Vappu is the holiday for
students and workers in Finland.
But mostly for students.
