Pronunciation of Finnish

[Vowels] [Consonants] [Length] [Diphthongs] [Stress] [Intonation]

Vowels

Sound Description of the Sound Finnish Examples
Click on word to hear sound
a like a in father banaani, radio
e like e in set tee, englanti
i like i in sit Helsinki, viisi
o like o in toy soolo
u like u in book (but lips more pursed) ruusu, puu
y like German ü or French u; i.e. like i
but with tightly rounded lips		 hyvä, yksi
ä like a in hat päivää
ö like German ö or French eu; i.e. like e
but with more strongly rounded lips		 öljy, söpö

Consonants

Sound Description of Sound Finnish Examples
b like b in ball banaani, baari
d like d in do kahdeksan, yhdeksän
f like f in fan filmi, filosofia
g like g in guide geologia
h like h in hen Helsinki
j like y in yes joo, marja
k like k in pumpkin (softer k than in kit, no aspiration) kahvi, markka
l like l in let litra, nolla
m like m in moon markka
n like n in no neljä, numero
ng like ng in singing but longer Helsingissä
p like p in spin (softer p than in pin, no aspiration) päivää, piano
r like Spanish r (slightly rolled), r should not affect the quality of the adjacent vowels radio
s like s in stop soolo, viisi
t like t in stop (softer t than in top, no aspiration) tee
v like v in van viisi

Length

The distinction between long and short consonant and vowels is very important in Finnish. Long sounds are indicated by doubling a letter. For an idea of the difference between long and short sounds, compare the p sounds in top part with to part or the vowels in feed and fit. In Finnish, a difference in length can make a difference in meaning, as in

taka 'back' (prefix)

takaa 'from behind'

takka 'fireplace'

taakka 'burden'

Diphthongs

Finnish has a large number of diphthongs, i.e. combinations of two different vowels in one syllable. A few Finnish dipththongs are very much like dipththongs in English, others are less familiar.
Sound Description of the Sound Finnish Examples
ai like ai in aisle laiva
ei like ey in hey hei
oi like oi in voice moi
ui like uy in Spanish muy uida
yi resembles ui in French suis but Finnish y
slightly less rounded than French u 		kysyi
äi ä followed by a short i in the same syllable päivää
öi ö followed by a short i in the same syllable töihin
au resembles ow in cow auto
eu e followed by a short u in the same syllable leuka
iu i followed by a short u in the same syllable viulu
ou like o in so but more rounded koulu
äy ä followed by a short y in the same syllable täynnä
öy ö followed by a short y in the same syllable pöytä
ie like ie in Spanish bien mies
uo like uo in Italian buona Suomi
yö y followed by a short ö in the same syllable Hyvää yötä

Stress

In Finnish, the world stress is always on the first syllable. At the same time, the vowels and consonants of unstressed words pronounced just as distinctly and clearly as in stressed syllables. As Finnish words are often lengthy due to suffixation and compounding, the words can have secondary stresses on later syllables.

Intonation

All Finnish sentences, statements as well as questions, have a falling intonation. Yes/No Questions are not formed by changing intonation but by adding a question particle -ko or -kö . E.g. Puhutko sinä suomea? ('Do you speak Finnish?)

[Vowels] [Consonants] [Length] [Diphthongs] [Stress] [Intonation]

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Last reviewed: January 2004.

Please send comments to: prentz@westminstercollege.edu