www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship Vespers, Matins & the Divine Liturgy The Revised Divine Liturgy All is Quiet on the Eastern Front...

I once heard the Liturgy sung in Sami, the language of the Lapps. This was in a beautiful little wooden church near Titovka Ostrov, north of Murmansk in the Russian Far North. What struck me most was the way, to my ear at least, it sounded like Hungarian! While not speaking Hungarian, I heard it often enough as a child, and am familiar with the flow. The similarities were striking!

Alexandr

Not at all surprising, Slavipodvizhnik, that it should sound similar. Finnish is closely related to Hungarian - both Hungarians and Finns come from what is known as the "Finno-Ugric" group of Aryans which split in the migrations westward about the point where they reached the Crimea in their wanderings. The Finns went North, the Ungvar went West and settled in the Great Danube Basin. They are first cousins, both linguistically and genetically.

Thank you! Rarely a day goes by when I do not learn something new on the Forum!

Alexandr