Finger survey

[Ser]

Also, cross-linguistic question: what names do the individual fingers of the hand have in various nat/conlangs?

Japanese:
thumb: 親指 - oyayubi "parent finger"
index finger: 人差し指 - hitosashiyubi "person pointing finger"
middle finger: 中指 - nakayubi "middle finger"
ring finger: 薬指 - kusuriyubi "medicine finger" (don't know the meaning of this)
little finger: 小指 - koyubi "small finger"

Finnish:
Thumb: peukalo
Index finger: etusormi (= front finger, forefinger)
Middle finger: keskisormi (= middle finger)
Ring finger: nimetön (= nameless)
Little finger: pikkusormi (= little finger)

German:
Thumb: Daumen
Index finger: Zeigefinger (= point-finger)
Middle finger: Mittelfinger (= middle finger)
Ring finger: Ringfinger (= ring finger)
Little finger: kleiner Finger (= little finger)

Turkish:
Thumb: başparmak (= headfinger)
Index finger: işaret parmağı (= sign finger, visible indication finger)
Middle finger: orta parmak (= middle finger)
Ring finger: yüzük parmağı (= ring finger)
Little finger: serçe parmağı (= sparrow finger)

Swedes (and other Scandinavians) call the middle finger the long finger and all the rest are basically the same.
In Scottish Gaelic, the ring finger is mac-an-aba, which seems to mean "son of the abbot"

Spanish:
Thumb: pulgar (related to Latin pollere 'to be strong', folk etymology says it's because that's what you use to kill a pulga 'flea'')
Index: índice (related to indicar 'to indicate')
Middle finger: el mayor ("the biggest one"), dedo medio, dedo de enmedio, dedo del medio ("middle finger"), cordial, dedo (del) corazón ("heart [finger]")
Ring finger: anular (related to anillo 'ring')
Pinkie: meñique (related to menor 'smaller'), auricular ("ear [finger]" (because that's the one you use to clean your ear???))

In San Salvador people don't use cordial, dedo (del) corazón, and auricular is IMO quite rare.

[Astraios]

Lakota:

šašté little finger (unanalysable)
škaŋkápiŋ ring finger ("reluctant to move")
napčhókaya middle finger ("middle of the hand")
waépazo index finger ("points at things")
napȟáhuŋka thumb (unanalysable)

[Taernsietr]

Lakota: škaŋkápiŋ ring finger ("reluctant to move")

Best. Name. Evar.

Portuguese has basically the same as Spanish: polegar, indicador, dedo do meio, anelar; but: [dedo] mindinho.

[Ser]

Cantonese:

Thumb: 手指公 sáujígūng ("the grandpa of the fingers"), 大拇指 daaihmóuhjí ("the big finger")
Index: 食指 sihkjí ("eating finger")
Middle finger: 中指 jūngjí ("middle finger")
Ring finger: 無名指 mòuhmèhngjí ("nameless finger", just like in Finnish)
Pinkie: 小(拇)指 síu(móuh)jí ("small finger"), 尾指 mēijí ("tail finger")

[ná'oolkiłí]

Georgian:

ცერი ceri thumb (not analyzable)
სალოკი თითი saloḳi titi index finger (lit. finger for licking)
საჩვენებელი თითი sačvenebeli titi index finger (lit. finger for indicating)
შუათითი šuatiti middle finger (lit. middle finger)
არათითი aratiti ring finger (lit. no finger)
უსახელო თითი usaxelo titi ring finger (lit. nameless finger)
ნეკი neḳi little finger (not analyzable)

While searching for "finger" in my dictionary I also came upon some interesting entries—
ამოეგლისება amoegliseba (v.) Z's X [fingernails] will clog up [with dirt]
თითზე გადასახვევი titze gadasaxvevi (fut. part.) virtually nothing [lit. to be reeled on a finger]
გამოწუდა gamoc̣uda (verbal noun, med. †) falling out [of fingernails]
გოგი gogi (n. dialectal) outermost finger joint
დათითებს datitebs (v., dialectal, vulgar) X will insert a finger into Y's anus
დუდკო dudḳo (n.) infected fingernail/toenail
თითებგადახლართული titebgadaxlertuli (a.) with fingers crossed
ლოყია loqia (n., med. †) medicine to be sucked off finger
ქუჟდო kuždo (n. dialectal) yarn skein wound around thumb and index finger
ჩამოფოცხავს čamopecxavs (v.) X will run X's fingers through Y [beard, etc.]
ჩანჩუხი čančuxi (n.) yarn wound round little finger and thumb
ცერავს ceravs (v.) X twists Y with thumb and finger
წაზრდა c̣azrda (vb. n.) growing [of fingernails]
ჭკანტი č̣ḳanṭi (n.) snapping fingers, cracking finger joints

[----]

Vietnamese:
ngón cái - thumb (lit. mother finger)
ngón trỏ - index finger (lit. pointing finger)
ngón giữa - middle finger (lit. middle finger)
ngón nhẫn - ring finger (lit. ring finger)
ngón út - little finger (lit. smallest/youngest finger)

Pretty boring

[Ser]

Arabic:

Thumb: إبهام ʔibhām (mightttt be related to بهم bahama 'to make obscure', as in, the one you use to cover the sun?)
Index: سبابة sabāba (related to سب sabba 'to insult')
Middle finger: وسطئ wasṭiʔ (related to وسط wasaṭ 'middle')
Ring finger: بنصر binṣir (?), الإصبع قبل الأخير al-ʔiṣbaʕ qabl al-ʔaxīr ("the finger before the last one")
Pinkie: خنصر xinṣir (?)

[Lyktorna]

Yupik

Thumb – asaun, ayaun, (ayag- leave, go away, depart) kul’u, kumlu (attested in a finger-naming song), nangneq (“last one, end” nange- be used up)

Index – keniun ((k)enir- to point), tekeq (unanalyzable, dialectally means thimble), tengayuq (from finger-naming song; for those who are interested, it has a homophone meaning "caribou throat hair" from tengak pubic hair)

Middle – akulipeq (akula midsection, area between) , alqiliq (from finger-naming song), (q)aquq (from finger-naming song), katneq/qatneq (unanalyzable), qeteqliq ("one in the middle" qeteq middle +qliq one far in N)

Ring – aliqiliqiaq (from finger-naming song), atrilnguq ("nameless one" ateq name +ite lacking N +nguq one who Vs) , ekiliq, ikilipik (something +pik most important of N) , kuluq (related to kulun ring which may be a loanword), kulusvik (similar to previous +vik place)

Little – iqeluq, iqiquq (related to iqeq-, iqek- corner of the mouth; also in finger-naming song; +quq one that is V or like N(?))


Apparently no one really cares about the ring finger.

[installer_swan]

Tamil:
ஆள்காட்டி விரல் (Person-pointing finger)
நடுவிரல் (middle-finger)
மோதிர விரல் (ring finger)
சுண்டு விரல் (tiny/coiled finger = little finger)
கட்டைவிரல் (stump/plank-finger = thumb)

[Niedokonany]

Polish:

kciuk - thumb (perhaps from dialectal krzcić "to baptize")
palec wskazujący - pointing f.
p. środkowy - middle f.
p. serdeczny - cordial
mały palec - little

[Kaenif]

Cantonese:

Thumb: 手指公 sáujígūng ("the grandpa of the fingers"), 大拇指 daaihmóuhjí ("the big finger")
Index: 食指 sihkjí ("eating finger")
Middle finger: 中指 jūngjí ("middle finger")
Ring finger: 無名指 mòuhmèhngjí ("nameless finger", just like in Finnish)
Pinkie: 小(拇)指 síu(móuh)jí ("small finger"), 尾指 mēijí ("tail finger")

拇指 is more common than 大拇指 imo, and I always hear 尾指 only for pinky. I think 小指 is the name common to Mandarin Chinese.
This is from a native speaker

[Jipí]

Since Imralu didn't give an etymology for Daumen (MHG dûme, OHG dûmo; Engl. thumb, Du. duim, Sw. tumme), I looked into my etymologic dictionary and it says that it's from PIE *tēu-, tū̆- 'to swell' to mean 'the thick one, the strong one'.

WTF, u-macron with breve?! A major drawback of this dictionary is that they don't explain the transcription systems they use anywhere. Also they consistently use ‹Þ› for ‹þ› and ‹lu› for ‹ƕ›. It really looks like the person who typeset this had no clue. And it's from the Duden series, i.e. from one of the largest publishers of dictionaries in Germany.

[Haplogy]

Dutch

Thumb: duim /dœym/ (thumb)
Index finger: wijsvinger /ˈʋɛisvɪŋəʀ/ (pointing finger)
Middle finger: middelvinger /ˈmɪdəlvɪŋəʀ/ (middle finger)
Ring finger: ringvinger /ˈʀɪŋvɪŋəʀ/ (ring finger)
Little finger: pink /pɪŋk/ (pinky)

[xxx]

french:
thumb: pouce
index finger: index
middle finger: majeur (major)
ring finger: annulaire (from anneau=ring)
little finger: auriculaire (from adj. auriculaire=about ear)

[Ser]

Cantonese:

Thumb: 手指公 sáujígūng ("the grandpa of the fingers"), 大拇指 daaihmóuhjí ("the big finger")
Index: 食指 sihkjí ("eating finger")
Middle finger: 中指 jūngjí ("middle finger")
Ring finger: 無名指 mòuhmèhngjí ("nameless finger", just like in Finnish)
Pinkie: 小(拇)指 síu(móuh)jí ("small finger"), 尾指 mēijí ("tail finger")

拇指 is more common than 大拇指 imo, and I always hear 尾指 only for pinky. I think 小指 is the name common to Mandarin Chinese.
This is from a native speaker

How would you translate 拇指 literally anyway? (Can you even...?)

Also, nice to see you again, didn't know you still lurked around.

[Mecislau]

Russian:

Thumb — большой палец — "big finger"
Index Finger — указательный палец — "pointing finger"
Middle Finger — средний палец — "middle finger"
Ring Finger — безымянный палец — "nameless finger"
Little Finger — мизинец — (unanalyzable, though historically "youngest son")

[Soren]

Polish:

kciuk - thumb (perhaps from dialectal krzcić "to baptize")
palec wskazujący - pointing f.
p. środkowy - middle f.
p. serdeczny - cordial
mały palec - little

Interesting that Polish and Russian use palec for 'finger' - in Czech it is only used for 'thumb' (and 'big toe'), while 'finger/toe' is prst. The other fingers are:

ukazovák ← ukázat/ukazovat 'to point/show'
prostředník ← -prostřed-/prostřední 'middle'
prsteník ← prsten 'ring'
malíček ← malý 'small'

[Kaenif]

Cantonese:

Thumb: 手指公 sáujígūng ("the grandpa of the fingers"), 大拇指 daaihmóuhjí ("the big finger")
Index: 食指 sihkjí ("eating finger")
Middle finger: 中指 jūngjí ("middle finger")
Ring finger: 無名指 mòuhmèhngjí ("nameless finger", just like in Finnish)
Pinkie: 小(拇)指 síu(móuh)jí ("small finger"), 尾指 mēijí ("tail finger")

拇指 is more common than 大拇指 imo, and I always hear 尾指 only for pinky. I think 小指 is the name common to Mandarin Chinese.
This is from a native speaker

How would you translate 拇指 literally anyway? (Can you even...?)

Also, nice to see you again, didn't know you still lurked around.

Well, I haven't really seen 拇 used in other contexts except for in "big toe" 拇趾 (a curious homophone). Handian says it really means "thumb" or "big toe" itself. So I think the word can be translated to a kind of redundant "thumb finger", or a more elaborate "big_digit finger".

Don't really expect anyone remembering me, so thank you I guess! I still lurk around often, but I just don't post because I think my knowledge is not yet up to ZBB standards and don't really want to act like a noob.

Edit:
Okay that was a stupid reason. I'll post more often.
My mom said that some people^[who?] are trying to prescribe 戒指 (a horrible homonym) to ring finger. I haven't heard of that personally, but yeah.

[jmcd]

Completing the Scottish Gaelic, we have:

thumb: òrdag (=big toe; hammer+diminuitive)
Index finger: sgealbag (=splinter)
Middle finger: gunna fada (=long gun, long cannon)
Ring finger: mac-an-aba (=son-of-the-abbot) (mentioned above)
Little finger: lùdag (=hinge)

[Whimemsz]

Ojibwe:

Thumb: midechininj (*), minjichin (*), or gichininj ("big finger")
Index finger: inoo'iganinj ("pointer finger") and several dialectal variants
Middle finger: naawininj ("middle finger")
Little finger: ishkweninj ("last finger")

My dictionary doesn't list a word for "ring finger".


* I'm not sure how midechininj breaks down (though the ending -ninj means "finger"/"hand"), but looks like it could contain the -chi- sequence also found in minjichin. I have this temptation to try to connect the mide- part to the numeral "ten", midaaswi (where mid-(?) is the root, and -(w)aaswi is a numeral suffix). On the other hand, (a) I don't know what -chi- might actually mean and I can't think of other words where it might appear as a meaningful sequence, and (b) the connection with "ten" is admittedly pretty tenuous. But I can't think of any other plausible ways the word could break down, so it may be that midechi- is just unanalyzable and means "thumb". As for minjichin, I'm not sure how to analyze it (aside from the -chi- part mentioned above?), unless it contains minj- "immediately in succession, tightly packed". Also relevant is the word for "mitt(en), baseball glove", minjikaawan.

[Hakaku]

Okinawan:

Thumb — 大指 ufu iibi "big finger"
Index — 人差し指 tchusashi iibi, 差し指 sashi iibi or 差ち指 sachi iibi "person-pointing finger"
Middle — 中指 naka iibi "middle finger"
Ring — 均し指/平し指 narashi iibi or just 均し/平し narashi "even finger" **
Little — 指子 iibingwaa "small finger" (finger+diminutive)

**Also 薬指 kusui iibi "medicine finger" under the influence of standard Japanese.

Note: iibi is glottalized [?i:bi]

Miyako:

Thumb — ??
Index — gussun "long"
Middle — naka 'vuibi "middle finger"
Ring — nyaanyaaza "secret/private position"
Little — minagama (?female+genitive+diminutive)

[Qwynegold]

Interesting that a lot of languages from everywhere call it ringfinger. Is the practice of wearing rings on that finger so widespread? Also interesting that a lot of languages call it the nameless finger. Why is that?

[Jipí]

What would be interesting is how the index is called in languages where it's impolite to point fingers at something/someone. Is it still the "pointing finger", since that seems to be very common, too?

[hwhatting]

WTF, u-macron with breve?! A major drawback of this dictionary is that they don't explain the transcription systems they use anywhere.

It means "vowel can be either long or short"; it's a notation I've seen being used very often in older IEanist works. AFAIK, the reconstruction and notation of IE roots in Duden are similar to Pokorny's. (Just checked: Pokorny p. 1080 has tu- with macron + breve.)

[hwhatting]

What would be interesting is how the index is called in languages where it's impolite to point fingers at something/someone. Is it still the "pointing finger", since that seems to be very common, too?

Well, it's impolite in German culture and even more so in Russian culture (in German culture, it's impolite to point at people, in Russian culture it's impolite to point at all), and it's still called "pointing finger" in both languages. The reason is probably that there's lots of people who do it anyway.