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1 Vowel Phonems
There are 8 vowels in Finnish:
a,
e,
i,
o,
u,
y,
ä, and
ö.
Back vowels are a, o, and u, middle vowels are e and i, and front vowels are ä, ö, and y.
Back vowels |
Middle vowels |
Front vowels |
a |
e |
ä |
o |
i |
ö |
u |
|
y |
2 Duration
The vowels have two durations: short and long. A short vowel is written with one letter and a long one with two letters.
3 Pronunciation
The pronunciation of the vowels is shown in the following table.
Sound |
Example |
Pronunciation |
A [a] |
auto [auto] 'car'
aamu [a:mu] 'morning'
|
English a in car
German a in Auto
Estonian a in auto
Russian а in автомобил
|
E [e] |
että [ettæ] 'that'
tulee [tule:] '(he) comes'
|
English e in let
German e in messen
Estonian e in mets
Russian э in этот
|
I [i] |
sika [sika] 'pig'
siika [si:ka] 'whitefish'
|
English i in sit
German i in Brille
Estonian i in kivi
Russian и in они
|
O [o] |
kori [kori] 'basket'
loota [lo:ta] 'box'
|
English o in or
German o in oder
Estonian o in osta
Russian о in корова
|
U [u] |
tuli [tuli] 'fire'
tuuli [tu:li] 'wind'
|
English oo in book
German u in putzen
Estonian u in uks
Russian у in тут
|
Y [y] |
syksy [syksy] 'autumn'
syys [sy:s] 'autumn'
|
English has no equivalent sound
German ü in müssen
Estonian ü in üks
Russian has no equivalent sound
|
Ä [æ] |
käsi [kæsi] 'hand'
käärme [kæ:rme] 'snake'
|
English a in cat
German has no equivalent sound
Estonian ä in käsi
Russian has no equivalent sound
|
Ö [ø] |
möly [møly] 'noise'
miljöö [miljø:] 'milieu'
|
English i in bird
German ö in nötig
Estonian ö in töö
Russian has no equivalent sound
|
The ninth vowel that belongs to the Finnish alphabet is å and it occurs only in words of Swedish origin, e.g. vårdöläinen (an inhabitant from Vårdö, a county on the Åland Islands). It is pronounced like o in Finnish.
4 Notes
There are no schwa vowel [ə] nor nasal vowels in Finnish.
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