On Finnish Language

As a guy who has put the knock on Stan Delaplane often enough for his frequent inaccuracies, I feel impelled to defend him on this occasion. On Sept. 29 a reader complained that Delaplane had vilified the Finnish language. Your correspondent must be a Finn. When Delaplane contends that it seems to be a mix of Hungarian and undecipherable Mongolian, he is not original. Almost every observer, linguist or not, feels that is a fair description of that mysterious tongue. This is my only negative comment about the marvelous Finns. Otherwise, they have everything going for them, from beautiful country to wonderful people.

JACK W. WATSON

Oxford, Miss.