# vilkkua / välkkyä



## Gavril

Which would be  best in these sentences: _vilkkua_, _välkkyä _or a different word? Anteeksi, että virkkeitä on niin paljon, mutta mieleen tuli monia mahdollisia eroja sanojen välillä.
_

Lähestyessäni leiriä voin erottaa vilkkuvan / välkkyvän nuotion.

Kullan voi nähdä vilkkuvan / välkkyvän jos sitä katsoo silmä tarkkana.

Näytelmäkirjailijana hän on hyvin epäjohdonmukaista – neroutensa vilkkuu / välkkyy teoksesta teokseen.

Kun hehkulamppu vilkkuu / välkkyy on aika korvata se.

Joissakin maissa (Suomessakin?) poliisiauton päällä on valaisimia, jotka vilkkuvat / välkkyvät kun auto lähtee takaa-ajoon tai muissa hätätilanteissa.

Viittoilussa käytetään joskus (saatavissa olevista välineistä riippuen) sähkövalaisimia, jotka ihminen vilkuttaa / välkyttää eri (joskus muuttuvin) aikavälein ilmaisemaan halutun viestin.

Räjähdyksen mukana tuli äkillinen vilkku / välkky valoa.

Vaikkei sitä havaitsee paljaalla silmällä, tuo valaisin vilkkuu / välkkyy hyvin lyhyin välein.

Vaikka vain kerran joka vuosituhannella, tuon tähden voi nähdä ”vilkkuvan / välkkyvän”.



_Kiitos ja hyvää lokakuun viimeistä viikkoa!


----------



## Grumpy Old Man

I am not sure I have understood all your sentences correctly and I find some of them a little un-Finnish. Till you get better suggestions, you'll have to make do with mine:

_Lähestyessäni leiriä kykenin erottamaan nuotion loisteen.

Kullan voi nähdä kiiltelevän, jos sitä katsoo silmä tarkkana.

Näytelmäkirjailijana hänen teostensa taso vaihtelee keskinkertaisesta nerokkaaseen.

Kun hehkulamppu vilkkuu, on aika vaihtaa se.

Joissakin maissa, kuten Suomessakin, poliisiautojen katolla on hälytysvilkut/hälytysvilkkuja, jotka kytketään päälle autojen lähtiessä hälytystehtäviin.

Viittoiluviestinnässä käytetään joskus syttyviä ja sammuvia lamppuja viestittämiseen.

Räjähdys aiheutti valonleimahduksen.

Vaikkei sitä havaitse paljaalla silmällä, tuo valaisin vilkkuu erittäin taajaan/tiuhaan.

Tuon tähden voi nähdä tuikkivan  -  tosin vain kerran vuosituhannessa / tuhannessa vuodessa.

_Koska lokakuu on käytännöllisesti katsoen päättynyt, toivotan vähäsateista marraskuuta!

GOM


----------



## hui

> _ Kun _*lamppu alkaa *_välkkyä, on aika vaihtaa se._



Are we talking about the random slow (a few Hz) blinking _(välkyntä, välkkyminen)_ or the 50 Hz flickering (I would translate it as_ värinä_ instead of _välkyntä)_ of an old * fluorescent lamp*_ (loisteputki_ and _pienloistelamppu)_?

An old incandescent lamp _(hehkulamppu)_ does not blink or flicker.


----------



## Grumpy Old Man

hui said:


> An old incandescent lamp _(hehkulamppu)_ does not blink or flicker.


It can do that even though it isn't very common. One of mine began flickering oddly last summer and I replaced it and all the other bulbs in that fixture immediately before it blew the small fuse I have in my touch dimmer for the living-room lights.


----------



## Gavril

Grumpy Old Man said:


> I am not sure I have understood all your sentences correctly and I find some of them a little un-Finnish. Till you get better suggestions, you'll have to make do with mine:
> 
> _Lähestyessäni leiriä kykenin erottamaan nuotion loisteen._


_nuotion loiste_ means "the glow of a campfire", doesn't it? I meant to say, "a flickering campfire", where _flicker _means 


> to burn unsteadily; shine with a wavering light: _The candle flickered in the wind and went out._​


 (dictionary.com)

How would you translate "flickering" in the context of _a flickering campfire_?



> Kun hehkulamppu vilkkuu, on aika vaihtaa se.



After reading Hui's post, I wonder, would _vilkkuminen _be a relatively fast blinking, or relatively slow? If you said _Lamppu/loisteputki välkkyy, _how would the meaning differ (in terms of speed or otherwise) from _Lamppu/loisteputki vilkkuu_?


----------



## hui

Gavril said:


> After reading Hui's post, I wonder, would _vilkkuminen _be a relatively fast blinking, or relatively slow? If you said _Lamppu/loisteputki välkkyy, _how would the meaning differ (in terms of speed or otherwise) from _Lamppu/loisteputki vilkkuu_?



_Vilkkua_ seems to be used when the blinking is deliberate and in steady rhythm.


----------



## Grumpy Old Man

"_nuotion loiste_ means "the glow of a campfire", doesn't it? I meant to say, "a flickering campfire","

Yes. I know full well that the meaning is somewhat different from what you suggested. I just chose my collocation because it is very common and natural in Finnish. "Vilkkuva nuotio" is of course possible in Finnish but I don't think many of my compatriots would use it. I don't know why there doesn't seem to be a commonly used word to refer to the flickering flame of a campfire. Maybe it's because everybody knows that any such fire will flicker and consequently it's pointless to underline it in words. (Just a wild guess!)

On the whole, one of the reasons so few people reply to your posts in which you ask to choose the best word may be the fact that often neither word is natural and in actual fact in many cases the entire sentence needs to be recast for it to sound correct and natural for a Finn to say.

"After reading Hui's post, I wonder, would _vilkkuminen _be a relatively fast blinking, or relatively slow? If you said _Lamppu/loisteputki välkkyy, _how would the meaning differ (in terms of speed or otherwise) from _Lamppu/loisteputki vilkkuu_?"

All Finns know what a fluorescent tube looks like when it "vilkkuu" or "välkkyy". To me, too, "vilkkuu" seems to suggest rapid changes in the intensity of the light rather than slow, but I don't think the average person gives much thought to the speed of flickering when he hears someone use either word in this context. 

I mentioned a malfunctioning incandescent lamp in an earlier post. That must be a rare phenomenon but it did occur a few months ago. I was sitting in an easy chair reading a magazine when I realized that the light on my magazine seemed to flicker very rapidly. At first I wasn't sure whether it was the lamp or my eyes and it actually took me a while to convince myself that there was indeed something wrong with one of the spotlights, four incandescent reflector light bulbs, that illuminate my living-room. I think I would use the word "vilkkua" for that phenomenon.


----------



## hui

Gavril said:


> How would you translate "flickering" in the context of _a flickering campfire_?



_Loimuava._


Grumpy Old Man said:


> I mentioned a malfunctioning incandescent lamp in  an earlier post. That must be a rare phenomenon but it did occur a few  months ago. I was sitting in an easy chair reading a magazine when I  realized that the light on my magazine seemed to flicker very rapidly.  At first I wasn't sure whether it was the lamp or my eyes and it  actually took me a while to convince myself that there was indeed  something wrong with one of the spotlights, four incandescent reflector  light bulbs, that illuminate my living-room. I think I would use the  word "vilkkua" for that phenomenon.



I think the filament was already burned. But because the power was on the  electric attraction caused by the voltage difference between the two  ends was enough to hold  them close which in turn created a small electric arc. I would use the word _väristä._


----------



## Gavril

Grumpy Old Man said:


> "_nuotion loiste_ means "the glow of a campfire", doesn't it? I meant to say, "a flickering campfire","
> 
> Yes. I know full well that the meaning is somewhat different from what you suggested. I just chose my collocation because it is very common and natural in Finnish. "Vilkkuva nuotio" is of course possible in Finnish but I don't think many of my compatriots would use it. I don't know why there doesn't seem to be a commonly used word to refer to the flickering flame of a campfire. Maybe it's because everybody knows that any such fire will flicker and consequently it's pointless to underline it in words. (Just a wild guess!)
> 
> On the whole, one of the reasons so few people reply to your posts in which you ask to choose the best word may be the fact that often neither word is natural and in actual fact in many cases the entire sentence needs to be recast for it to sound correct and natural for a Finn to say.




Luulin, että niin harva vastaa kysymyksiini koska kirjoitan liian paljon virkkeitä, ja harvat sietävät muokata kaikkia näitä virkkeitä hyväski suomeksi.


----------



## Grumpy Old Man

Gavril said:


> Luulin, että niin harva vastaa kysymyksiini koska kirjoitan liian paljon virkkeitä, ja harvat sietävät muokata kaikkia näitä virkkeitä hyväski suomeksi.


Virkkeiden määrä lienee toinen syy. Olet aivan oikeassa.


----------

