Where does “roskakala” come from?

roskakala (Finnish) comes from Finnish kala, from Proto-Finnic kala, from Proto-Uralic kälä — fish.

roskakala (Finnish): trash fish, rough fish

Definitions

  1. trash fish, rough fish

Ancestry of “roskakala”, step by step

roskakala traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Finnish kala

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishkalafish; fishing; seafood
2Proto-Finnickalafish
3Proto-Uralickäläfish

via Finnish roska

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishroskalitter, trash, rubbish
2Swedishroskfilth, garbage
Every word from Proto-Uralic kälä →Every word from Proto-Finnic kala →Every word from Finnish kala →