Syllabification in Finnish is in most cases determined by the following basic
rule.
There is a syllable boundary before every sequence of a single
consonant followed by a vowel.
Pronunciation and sound structure 15
In the following examples the syllable boundary is indicated by a dash (-):
ka-la fish jo-kai-nen every
kui-ten-kin however sit-ten then
päi-vä day al-kaa (to) begin
pur-kis-sa in the jar purk-kiin into the jar
An-tin of Antti An-til-le to Antti
Hel-sin-kiin to Helsinki Hel-sin-gis-sä-kin in Helsinki, too
There is also a syllable boundary between vowels that do not form a
diphthong (§8) in words such as:
no-pe-a fast
ai-no-a only
hert-tu-an of the duke
sal-li-a (to) allow
