【芬兰语语法】§11 VOWEL HARMONY

 Many endings occur in two forms with alternative vowels, e.g. -ssa ~ -ssä

‘in’, -ko ~ -kö (interrogative), -nut ~ -nyt (past participle). These vowel

alternations form three pairs; each pair has one back vowel and one front

vowel.

Back vowel Front vowel Example

a ä -ssa ~ -ssä

o ö -kö ~ -kö

u y -nut ~ -nyt

If a given ending contains one of these six vowels, there will also exist a

parallel ending with the other vowel of the pair. If we have the ending -han

‘emphasis’, there will also be -hän; if -koon (third p. sing. imp.), then also -

köön, etc. The vowels of the stem determine which ending of the pair is to be

chosen.

Urho Kekkonen was the

President of Finland.

Kalle ate an apple!

It was an apple that Kalle ate!

I’m going to Turku, not to

Helsinki!

If the stem contains one or more of the vowels u, o, a, the ending also

has to have a back vowel (u, o, a). If the stem has no back vowels, the

ending has to have a front vowel (y, ö, ä).

Pronunciation and sound structure 17

Ending with back vowel Ending with front vowel

talo/ssa in the house kylä/ssä in the village

Turu/ssa in Turku käde/ssä in the hand

Pori/ssa in Pori venee/ssä in the boat

Porvoo/ssa in Porvoo Helsingi/ssä in Helsinki

poja/lla boy äidi/llä mother

auto/lla by car tä/llä with this

kato/lla on the roof miehe/llä man

naise/lta from the woman Ville/ltä from Ville

Kekkose/lta from Kekkonen tytö/ltä from the girl

sisare/lta from the sister velje/ltä from the brother

he tule/vat they come he syö/vät they eat

he sano/vat they say he mene/vät they go

on luke/nut has read on pitä/nyt has kept

tuo/ko? that? tämä/kö? this?

tuo/ssa/ko? in that? tä/ssä/kö? in this?

kirja/han book (+emphasis) kynä/hän pen (+emphasis)

kirja/ssa/han in the book kynä/llä/hän with a pen

(+emphasis) (+emphasis)

Turu/sta/ko? from Turku? Kemi/stä/kö? from Kemi?

kahvi/la/ssa/han in the café kylpy/lä/ssä/ at the bathing

(+emphasis) hän resort (+emph.)

Some recent words of foreign origin which contain conflicting combinations

of harmony vowels fluctuate in ending selection, e.g. amatööri ‘amateur’ :

amatööri/na (recommended usage) ‘as an amateur’ ~ amatööri/nä.