kieli

From Proto-Finnic *keeli, from Proto-Uralic *käle. Cognates include Estonian keel and Northern Sami giella.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkie̯li/, [ˈkie̞̯li]
• Hyphenation: kie‧li

kieli

1. language (form of communication)
2. genitive + ~ ; the names of most languages may be expressed in two ways in Finnish: as a single word, e.g. islanti (“Icelandic”), or in combination with kieli, e.g. islannin kieli (“Icelandic”). The combined form is preferred for less-known languages and in contexts where the name of a language may be confused with the name of the country, region or ethnic group according which the language is named, in this example Islanti (“Iceland”).
3. tongue (organ)
4. (music) string (tightly tensioned wire that produces a tone)
5. (music) reed (vibrating part in the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument)

• nouns: kieleke
• adjectives: kielellinen, kielevä, kielinen
• verbs: kieliä

• kielen päällä
• kieli solmussa
• purra kieltänsä = to bite one's tongue (to leave something unsaid)
• pitää kieli keskellä suuta = to watch one’s words (be careful what one says)

kieli

1. Third-person singular indicative past form of kieliä.
2. Indicative present connegative form of kieliä.
3. Second-person singular imperative present form of kieliä.
4. Second-person singular imperative present connegative form of kieliä.

• keili, leiki, liike

From Proto-Finnic *keeli.

kieli (genitive kielen, partitive kieldy)

1. language
2. tongue