Editing Perkele

{{italic title}}
{{Short description|Finnish swear word}}
{{For|the Swedish band|Perkele (band)}}
'''{{lang|fi|Perkele}}''' ({{IPA|fi|ˈperkele|pron|Fi-perkele.ogg}}) is a Finnish word meaning '[[evil spirit]]' and a popular [[Finnish profanity]], used similarly to the English phrase ''[[Damnation#As profanity|God damn]]'',<ref>{{cite book |title=Kielitoimiston sanakirja |trans-title=Dictionary of the Language Office |language=fi |publisher=Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus |year=2006 |isbn=952-5446-20-4}}</ref> although it is considered much more profane. It is most likely the most internationally known Finnish curse word.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://crosssection.gns.wisc.edu/2014/10/12/how-finns-swear-and-what-this-tells-us-about-their-culture-by-emily-malone/ |title=How Finns Swear and What This Tells Us About Their Culture}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.biginfinland.com/swearwords-finnish-list-profanities/| title = Finnish swearwords – a list of profanities you shouldn't know |date=4 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Advances in Swearing Research: New languages and new contexts |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |year=2017 |isbn=978-9027256874}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Handbook of Finnish |publisher=E-painos |year=2015 |asin=B015AM7Q90}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The name is of Indo-European origin; [[Perkwunos]] is the reconstructed name of the god of thunder.

Some researchers consider {{lang|fi|Perkele}} to be an original name of the thunder god [[Ukko]], the chief god of the [[Finnish paganism|Finnish pagan]] pantheon,<ref>{{cite book |last=Siikala |first=Anna-Leena |title=Itämerensuomalaisten mytologia  |language=fi |trans-title=Mythology of the Baltic Finns |publisher=SKS |year=2013 |location=Helsinki}}</ref> but this view is not shared by all researchers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Salo |first=Unto |title=Agricola's Ukko in the light of archeology. A chronological and interpretative study of ancient Finnish religion: Old Norse and Finnish religions and cultic place-names. |year=1990 |location=Turku |isbn=951-649-695-4}}</ref> There are related words in other [[Balto-Finnic languages|Finnic]] languages: in [[Estonian language|Estonian]], {{lang|et|põrgu}} means [[hell]], in [[Karelian language|Karelian]] {{lang|krl|perkeleh}} means an [[evil spirit]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Miten suomalaiset kiroilivat ennen kristinuskoa? |language=fi |trans-title=How did Finns curse before Christianity? |url=http://www.kielikello.fi/index.php?mid=2&pid=11&aid=784 |access-date=2015-12-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Suomen kielen etymologinen sanakirja. 3. |language=fi |trans-title=Etymological dictionary of the Finnish language. 3. |publisher=Suomalais-ugrilainen seura |year=1976 |location=Helsinki |isbn=951-9019-16-2}}</ref>

=== Influence of Christianity ===
As Finland was [[Christianization|Christianized]], the ancient pre-Christian deities came to be regarded as demons. This led to the use of "{{lang|fi|Perkele}}" as a translation for "Devil" in the Finnish translation of the Bible. Later, in other translations, the word was rendered as {{lang|fi|paholainen}} (the evil one).<ref>{{cite web |title=Paholainen |url=https://www.jw.org/fi/kirjasto/raamattu/nwt/raamatun-sanasto/#p217}}</ref>

{{Wiktionary|perkele}}

== See also ==
* [[Piru (spirit)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Finland topics}}
[[Category:Finnish gods]]
[[Category:Thunder gods]]
[[Category:Profanity]]
[[Category:Finnish profanity]]