Why do Finns call cats with “kis-kis” instead of “kitty-kitty”?
Arvaa eläin: kuka sanoo miau?
A2 Finnish listening practice · Standard Finnish · Picked for people who know a little
Different languages call cats with different sounds. English speakers say “here, kitty-kitty” or “puss, puss.” French speakers say “minou-minou.” Finnish speakers reach for kis-kis (sometimes kisuli-kisuli), a short, hissing-soft sound that real Finnish cats apparently respond to. The word kissa (“cat”) shares the same root, so calling kis-kis is essentially saying “cat-cat.” Finnish kids learn the call before they learn most other animal sounds.
This clip is a children’s animal-guessing game: the host gives a hint that the animal “starts with kis and says miau.” The kids guess kissa immediately. The riddle works because kis-kis and kissa are bound together in Finnish ears from toddler age onward.
How common are the words?
How common are the words in this A2 Finnish listening practice video?
How common in written Finnish
How common in spoken Finnish
Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave) (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In Finnish children’s TV (Pikku Kakkonen, Ransu, Mörkö)
- ▸In Finnish family vlogs and TikToks with pet cats
- ▸In Finnish farm and rural-life content from Lapland
- ▸In Finnish parenting forums and language-learning sites
- ▸In Finnish picture books and read-along audiobooks