Alho Alhoniemi (born 1933 in Suomussalmi) is a Finnish linguist specializing in the Finno-Ugric languages.[1]
Alhoniemi graduated from high school in 1952 in Kannus.[2] He obtained his PhD in 1967 with a thesis about the lative case in Mari[2] and served as professor of Finno-Ugric linguistics at the University of Turku from 1971 to 1996.[1] He was appointed member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters in 1981[3] and received an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University in 1994.[4] He served as chairman of the Society for the Finnish Language (Suomen Kielen Seura) from 1971 to 1979.[5]
His research interests include the syntax of the Mari and Mordvinic languages.[1] In 1985, he published an extensive grammar of Mari in Finnish, which was translated into German in 1993.[6]