Where does “valaanpääkala” come from?

valaanpääkala (Finnish) comes from Finnish valas, from Proto-Samic fālēs, from Proto-Germanic hwalaz, from Proto-Indo-European (s)kʷálos — large fish; sheatfish.

valaanpääkala (Finnish): whalefish any fish of the order Cetomimiformes of deepwater ray-finned fish

Definitions

  1. whalefish any fish of the order Cetomimiformes of deepwater ray-finned fish

Ancestry of “valaanpääkala”, step by step

valaanpääkala traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Finnish valas

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishvalaswhale
2Proto-Samicfālēswhale
3Proto-Germanichwalazwhale, sheatfish
4Proto-Indo-European(s)kʷáloslarge fish; sheatfish

via Finnish pää

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishpäähead; end, tip
2Proto-Finnicpäähead
3Proto-Uralicpäŋehead

via Finnish kala

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishkalafish; fishing; seafood
2Proto-Finnickalafish
3Proto-Uralickäläfish
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)kʷálos →Every word from Proto-Germanic hwalaz →Every word from Proto-Samic fālēs →