【芬兰语语法】§15.1 THE TYPES OF CONSONANT GRADATION

 The long consonants pp, tt, kk alternate with the corresponding short

consonants p, t, k. This is called quantitative consonant gradation.

(1) pp~ p kaappi cupboard kaapi/ssa in the cupboard

(2) tt ~ t matto mat mato/lla on the mat

(3) kk~ k kukka flower kuka/n of the flower

The short consonants generally alternate with other consonants; however, k

may sometimes be dropped altogether. These alternations are called

qualitative consonant gradation (types (4)–(16)).

(4) p ~ v tupa hut tuva/ssa in the hut

(5) Vt ~ Vd katu street kadull/a on the street

(6) ht ~ hd lähte- leave lähde/n I leave

(7) k ~ ø jalka foot jala/n of the foot

The consonant t changes to d both after a vowel, V (= a vowel which is the

same as the nearest preceding vowel), and after h. A different type of

Two important sound alternations 29

alternation takes place in the following five cases, wher either p, t, k occur

after a nasal consonant (m, n, ?), or t occurs after l or r.

(8) mp ~ mm ampu- shoot ammu/mme we shoot

(9) nt ~ nn ranta shore ranna/lla on the shore

(10) nk ~ ng [??] kenkä shoe kengä/n of the shoe

(11) lt ~ ll kulta gold kulla/n of the gold

(12) rt ~ rr parta beard parra/ssa in the beard

Alternations (4)–(7) operate when the stops are not preceded by a nasal

consonant or l or r: in such cases alternations (8)–(12) apply. In addition to

these there are also four fairly rare alternations applying to k.

(13) lke ~ lje polke- trample polje/n I trample

(14) rke ~ rje särke- break särje/n I break

(15) hke~ hje rohkene/t you dare rohjet/a (to) dare

(16) k ~ v puku dress puvu/n of the dress

Alternations (13)–(15) are very similar: in each of these k changes to j before

e. Type (16) is rare, and occurs only in a few nominals, when k is preceded

and followed by u/y.