tokko

• IPA^(key): /ˈtokːo/, [ˈt̪o̞kːo̞]
• Rhymes: -okːo
• Syllabification^(key): tok‧ko

Originates from eastern dialects; probably as a loan from Karelian toko, from dialectal Russian токо́ (tokó); alternatively from toki + -ko.

tokko

1. I don't think, hardly; used to express doubt, often with softening clitic -pa or -han.

   Tokko sitä enää kukaan muistaa.

   I don't think anyone remembers that any more.

   Tokkopa siellä ketään on tähän aikaan.

   There's probably no one there at this hour.

• en usko, että...
• tokkopa
• tuskin, tuskinpa

• toki

tokko (archaic)

1. if, whether; used to begin an indirect question, especially in the negative

   En osaa sanoa, tokko hän vielä tietää.

   I can't say whether he already knows.

In current language, the clitic -ko, -kö is normally used instead of tokko. The example above would then read:

En osaa sanoa, tietääkö hän vielä.

I can't say whether he already knows.

• -ko, -kö

• “1. tokko”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-01

tokka +‎ -o, a shortening from the earlier tokanpoika (in which tokka is found with the genitive form tokan + poika (“son, boy”)). tokanpoika is attested since 1870, while tokko is found later, from the 1950s onward.

The etymology of the initial word is unknown. One possibility is that it is tokka (“tidal port”); gobies (at least the species encountered in Finland) are found in shallow coastal waters, such as tide pools.

tokko

1. goby (fish of the genus Gobius)

• Tokanpoika in Pieni tietosanakirja ("Concise Encyclopedia") by Otava, 1925-28

• “2. tokko”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-01

• kokot

tokko

1. Rōmaji transcription of とっこ

Inherited from Proto-Cushitic. Compare Arbore t'okko (“one”) and Hadiyya tokko'o (“only”), Dahalo vattúkʷe, Iraqw wák, Somali kow.

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tokko

1. one