Heikki Paasonen (linguist)

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Heikki Paasonen
Hekki Paasonen.jpg
Born(1865-01-02)2 January 1865
Died24 August 1919(1919-08-24) (aged 54)
Other names Russian: Генрих Иванович Паасонен
Citizenship Grand Duchy of Finland
Alma mater University of Helsinki
Known forUralic and Turkic Studies
SpouseMariska Paskay de Palásth
Children4 including Aladár Paasonen
Scientific career
Thesis Mordvinische lautlehre (1894)
Notable students Ignatij Zorin

Heikki Antinpoika Paasonen (2 January 1865 - 24 August 1919) was a Finnish linguist and ethnographer best known for his research in the linguistics and folklore of the Mokshas and the Erzyas during his two research trips to Russia. His studies include works on Chuvash, [1] Mishar Tatar, [2] Meadow Mari and Khanty [3] languages, which led to further discoveries in Finno-Ugric and Turkic studies.

Contents

Biography

Paasonen was born in Mikkeli, the son of the merchants Anders Paasonen and Fredrika Matiskainen. He became a student at the Swedish-language lyceum in Mikkeli in 1881 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1888 and worked from the following year until 1890 as a researcher with the Mokshas and Erzyas. The subject of his dissertation in 1893 was Mordvinic phonetics. [4] In 1894, Paasonen became a Doctor of Primus and Docent of Finno-Ugric Linguistics. [5] Paasonen made research trips to the Finno-Ugric peoples, including Hungary, collecting linguistic and ethnographic material. In 1902 he became the Chief Inspector of the School Board, and professor of Finno-Ugric linguistics at the University of Helsinki from 1904 to 1919. [6]

Paasonen's research and collections were published quite extensively, many of them after his death. The collection Mordwinische Volkslieder I-IV was published by Paavo Ravila from 1938 to 1947, and the dialect dictionary of Mordvinic languages based on Paasonen's materials, H. Paasonens Mordwinisches Wörterbuch [7] was edited since the 1930s and finally published in 1990 to 1996; it became the basis of lexicological research in these languages. His collections of Khanty were published as a 1926 dictionary and a series of five text collections from 1980 to 2001, edited by Kai Donner and Edith Vértes, respectively; his Mari materials in 1939 edited by Paavo Siro; his Chuvash materials in 1948 edited by E. Karahka and Martti Räsänen.

Family

Paasonen's spouse since 1894 was Hungarian-born Mariska Paskay de Palásth. Colonel Aladár Paasonen was their son. Their other children were Maria Aranka Gizela, Arvid and Ilona Anna. [8] He died in Helsinki in 1919.

Works

Literature

Sources

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. Heikki Paasonen. Çuvaş sözlüğü. İstanbul: İbrahim Horoz Basımevi, 1950
  2. Heikki Paasonen. Eino Karahka. Mischärtatarische Volksdichtung. Helsinki, Somalais-ugrilainen Seura, 1953
  3. Heikki Paasonen; Kai Donner. Ostjakisches Wörterbuch, nach den Dialekten and der Konda und am Jugan. Helsingfors, Société finno-ougrienne, 1926
  4. Heikki Paasonen. Mordvinische Lautlehre. Helsingfors, Druckerei der Finnischen Litteraturgesellschaft, 1903
  5. Хузангай А. П. "Паасонен Хейкки". Электронная Чувашская энциклопедия. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
  6. Paasonen Helsingin yliopiston sivuilla
    • Heikki Paasonen; Kaino Heikkilä; Hans-Hermann Bartens; A P Feoktistov; G I Ermushkin; Martti Kahla. H. Paasonens Mordwinisches Wörterbuch. Helsinki, Suomalais-ugrilainen seura, 1990-1996

See also