Tunturi
/ˈtunturi/noun
A treeless fell or rounded mountain, especially in northern Finland and Lapland.
Did you know?Tunturi is closely connected with the Sámi mountain vocabulary that ultimately helped give English the word “tundra,” linking two modern landscapes through Arctic language history.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Samic
Proto-Samic
*tunturi
“Mountain or high, treeless upland; reconstructed form, with details debated”
Medieval period
Sámi
duottar / tuoddar
“Mountain, fell, or treeless highland”
16th–17th Century
Finnish
tunturi
“Fell or mountain in northern Finland; borrowed from Sámi”
18th Century
Russian
тундра (tundra)
“Treeless northern plain; borrowed through Sámi and related Arctic vocabulary”
19th Century
English
tundra
“A vast, treeless, permanently frozen or subarctic region”
Modern Finnish
Finnish
tunturi
“A rounded, often treeless mountain or fell, especially in Lapland”