Every root in Finnish ends in a vowel or a diphthong.
In adding suffixes to a root the rules for the changes of letters must be carefully observed. The result of applying them is that from the original full root there may be produced three modifications:—
(1) The closed form. Root vete, water, closed form veden.
(2) The shortened form, paimen for paimene.
(3) A form both closed and shortened. tantere, nominative tanner.
Declension.
The Finnish noun is declined by adding suffixes to the root, which undergoes any modifications required by the rules of Euphony.
There are fifteen cases, which, with the exception of the nominative, may be regarded as the noun followed by a preposition, or rather postposition. The Finnish word maalta corresponds to the English from land, only the from is put after land, and the two are written as one word. maalta is analogous to such an expression as the Greek γῆς ἀπό, only that in this case we have both a case-form and a postposition. Most of the terminations have two forms, one with a hard, one with a soft vowel. Roots with hard vowels take the hard termination, those with soft, the soft ones. Thus we find maa-ssa, but työ-ssä.
These fifteen cases are as follow:—