A Finnish Grammar

by Charles Eliot

A FINNISH GRAMMAR.

The Finnish Alphabet consists of 21 letters, viz.: a, d, e, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, v (or w), y, ä, ö.

German characters are sometimes used, in which case w always represents the v sound. In the Roman character v and w are used indifferently to express the sound of the English v.

The pronunciation of the consonants offers little difficulty. Most of them have the same sounds as in English.

D. In true Finnish words this letter is never found at the beginning or end, and in the middle always represents a softened t (vide changes of consonants p. [13]). Even in this position it is hardly ever heard in the language as spoken by peasants, but replaced in the West Finnish dialect by a sound between r and l, and in the Eastern dialect entirely omitted. Educated people, however, pronounce it as in English. Thus the educated pronunciation of the genitive case of sota is sodan; but in dialects the forms soran, solan, or soan are found. The letter d is always omitted in the Kalevala, which is written in the Karelian dialect.

G, except in a few foreign words, is only found in the combination ng, representing an original nk, pronounced as in English. In the neighbourhood of St. Petersburg this letter is never used, k taking its place.

H is a stronger aspirate than in English, and is almost the Russian x or German ch. It is heard very distinctly at the end of syllables, e.g. in tehdä.

J is the English y in yes or yard.

The remaining letters of the Roman Alphabet b, c, f, q, x, z, and the Swedish å (pronounced o) are sometimes met with in foreign words, but an uneducated Finn will always pronounce b and f as p and v, and is also incapable of producing such sounds as the English ch and sh, which when occurring in Russian names are generally represented in a Finnish mouth by simple s.

There is also a slight aspiration found at the end of some words, as veneʻ, a boat, syödäʻ, to eat. It is not usually written, and hardly heard except in some dialects, though it has a grammatical importance, and in some educational works is marked, as above, by an inverted comma.

It will be seen that there is a great paucity of consonants in the Finnish language; the alphabet contains but 13, and of these g and d are never found at the beginning of native words. Further no word can begin with two consonants, and foreign words, commencing with such combinations, always lose one or more letters, for instance the Swedish words strand (shore), and spel (game), appear as ranta, peli.

On the other hand there is an extraordinary wealth of vowel sounds, and it is of capital importance to learn the exact pronunciation of them all.

The simple sounds are eight in number.

A is the Italian a (English a in rather or father), but pronounced quicker. It is always short.

E is the English e in met.

I is the English i in bit.

O is the English o in hot.

U is the English u in bull.

Y is the German ü in über.

Ä, which must be carefully distinguished from A, is the short English a heard in hat, or trap, and must not be pronounced as the English a in late. Thus hän, he, is pronounced exactly like hand without the final d. At the end of words (e.g. työtä) ä is more difficult for an Englishman to pronounce, as the sound is not found in English as a final.

Ö is like the French eu.

It is very important to observe that the simple vowels are all short sounds. The corresponding long sounds are written by doubling the vowel.

Aa is a long Italian a, like the a in rather, whereas the sound of simple a is shorter than that which we (generally) give to the vowel in this word.

Ee is like the English a in pale, late.

Ii is the English ee in keen, three.

Oo is the English o in hope.

Uu is the English oo in boot.

Yy is the German ü, pronounced long.

Ää is the a in had, but long. It is a rather difficult sound, but can be obtained by lingering over the vowel of had or man, taking care not to change its quality.

Öö is the sound of the simple ö lengthened.

Besides these simple and double vowels there are also 16 diphthongs, in which both vowels should be sounded but so rapidly and continuously as to form one syllable. They may be divided into two classes.

(1) Those in which the stress is on the second vowel. uo, yö, ie, e.g. tuo, this, tie, a way, yö, night.

(2) Those in which the stress is on the first vowel. Of these there are—

(a) Four ending in u. au, ou, iu, eu. Kauppa, sale, koulu, school, hiukka, a grain, leuka, chin.

(b) Two ending in y: äy, öy. Väylä, river bed, höyhen, feather.

(c) Seven ending in i: ai, oi, ui, ei, äi, öi, yi. E.g. nai, he married, koi, a moth, pui, he threshed, vei, he led, päivä, day, löi, he struck, myi, he sold.

These diphthongs, with the exception of those ending in i, are found only in the first syllable of words, otherwise the two vowels form two syllables: e.g. tapa-us, not tapa͡us, kope-us, not kope͡us, but talko͡issa, pape͡illa.

The pronunciation of these diphthongs offers no difficulties when that of the simple vowels has been mastered. It must be remembered that they are real diphthongs where both vowels sounds are heard, but pronounced rapidly, so that au, though very near the ow in the English how, is not quite like it. The pronunciation of äy and öy requires attention, but is, like that of all the diphthongs, merely the result of pronouncing the simple vowels rapidly.

The chief accent in Finnish is always on the first syllable of every word. Tálo, mínä, párempi, kívettä.

There is a secondary accent, generally on the third, fifth, ... syllables, but occasionally on the fourth, sixth, ... e.g. op-pi-mát-to-múu-des-sán-sa (in his ability to learn).

But ó-pet-ta-mát-to-múu-des-sán-sa (in his ignorance).

But in no case is the second or last syllable accented, so that such sounds as howéver, deláy, are impossible.

The pronunciation of Finnish is generally described as easy, but this is by no means the case. It is true that the language contains no sound which is really difficult for an Englishman, but on the other hand extreme care is necessary to pronounce even the simplest words correctly. For instance, in the word menemme (we come), three things are to be observed. The accent is on the first syllable, the n is single and not double, and the m is doubled. An Englishman, who has not learned how to pronounce, will in all probability say not menemme, but menneme. This is because he finds it natural to double the n after the accented syllable and hard to double the m, without accenting the second syllable. It must be observed, that:—

(1) The simple consonants are pronounced very lightly; tuli, fire, nearly rhymes to the English fully, but the l is lighter.

(2) The double consonants must be pronounced distinctly twice, as in Italian. Kuk-ka, flower, kyl-lä, enough, pap-pi, priest.

(3) The simple vowels are very short, the long vowels are to be dwelt on, but the length of a vowel has nothing to do with the accent. Púhuu must not be pronounced as if it were Puhúu, or puúhu.

The observance of these rules is necessary, not only to insure a correct pronunciation, but to prevent absolute confusion, for the paucity of consonants in Finnish results in the existence of a mass of words, which though very distinct to a native, are liable to be confounded by a stranger, and the natural tendency of an Englishman or Russian to slur over unaccented syllables results in complete unintelligibility. For instance, tuli is a fire, or, he came, tulli, a tax, tulla, to come (infinitive), tule, come (imperative and root), tulee, he comes: tullee, the concessive of the same verb, tuuli, a wind, tuulla, to blow. Kylä is a village, but kyllä, enough. Pitää, to hold, pyytää, to ask, peittää, to cover, peite, a covering, pöytä, a table.