Sanakirjoja

Sanakirjoja are reference works that list words and expressions in a language, providing meanings, usage notes, and grammatical information. In Finnish, the plural form sanakirjoja denotes more than one dictionary.

They come in several types, including monolingual dictionaries that explain Finnish words, bilingual dictionaries that translate between Finnish and another language (such as English, Swedish, or Russian), and specialized dictionaries focusing on technical terms, medicine, law, or cuisine. There are also historical and regional or dialect dictionaries that document older or local forms of the language.

Entries in sanakirjoja typically include the headword, pronunciation, part of speech, inflection information, a definition, and usage examples. Many entries also provide etymology, synonyms and antonyms, cross-references to related words, and notes on style or regional variation. Modern dictionaries may add pronunciation audio, frequency information, and corpus-based usage data.

The Finnish dictionary tradition gained momentum in the 19th and 20th centuries as part of language standardization, with prominent works produced for education and public use. A notable contemporary reference is the Kielitoimiston sanakirja, the authoritative Finnish language dictionary maintained by the linguistic research institute Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus, alongside numerous learner and specialized dictionaries.

Today, sanakirjoja are widely available in print, online, and as mobile apps. Digital formats enable quick searches, examples drawn from large corpora, and easy cross-linguistic lookup, making them essential tools for learners, writers, translators, and editors. They also document language change and assist in maintaining correct spelling and usage.