Help:IPA/Finnish

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Finnish on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Finnish in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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H:IPA-FI

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Finnish language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-fi}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Finnish phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Finnish.

Consonants^[1]
IPA	Examples	English approximation
b	bussi^[2]	big
d	ladot	adept
f	filmi^[2]	film
ɡ	magia^[2]	go
h	hevonen, vaha	horse
j	joulu	yolk
k	kala	scold
kː	lakki	backgammon
l	laulu	lack
lː	pullo	taillight
m	metsä, onpa^[3]	may
mː	kammio, Ahvenanmaa^[3]	roommate
n	nenä	nanny
nː	kannu	unnatural
ŋ	kenkä^[3]	sing
ŋː	vangita	singing
p	puu	pool
pː	lippu	flipbook
r	rauta	rolled r, like Spanish perro
s	sinä	between sip and ship (retracted)
sː	kissa	between this sip and trash ship (retracted)
ʃ	šakki^[2]	ship
t	tina	stand
tː	hattu	outdo
ʋ	viha	between vet and wet
ʔ	vaa’an, linja-auto	the pause in uh-oh

Stress
IPA	Examples	Explanation
ˈ	hevonen [ˈheʋonen]	Normally placed on the first syllable.
ˌ	hernekeitto [ˈherneˌkːei̯tːo]	A second syllable in some compound words.
ˌ	tule! [ˈtuˌle]	The second syllable in two-syllable imperatives.

Vowels^[4]
Short			Long
IPA	Examples	English approximation	IPA	Examples	English approximation
ɑ	pouta	like father, but shorter	ɑː	poutaa	father
æ	pöytä	cat	æː	päivää	mad
e	terve	let	eː	eesti	pay
i	viha	city	iː	siika	see
o	oksa	like more, but shorter	oː	koostaa	more
ø	pöly	somewhat like nurse	øː	säröön	somewhat like bird
u	surma	influence	uː	suu, ruoan	cool
y	kesy	somewhat like cute	yː	ryyppy	somewhat like cube

Diphthongs
IPA	Examples	English approximation
ɑi̯	aika	eye
ɑu̯	aura	how
æi̯	äiti	main (Australia)
æy̯	täytyy	somewhat like mouth (Estuary English)
ei̯	ei, hei	pay
eu̯	neutraali	somewhat like mouth (Dublin English), Spanish or Italian neutro
ey̯	keskeytyä	no English equivalent
ie̯	kieli	somewhat like yes
iu̯	viulu	few
iy̯	siistiytyä	no English equivalent
oi̯	koittaa, koettaa	coin
ou̯	outo	role
øi̯	töitä	no English equivalent: French feuille
øy̯	pöyristyä	rope (Received Pronunciation)
ui̯	muita	ruin
uo̯	Suomi	somewhat like woah
yi̯	syitä	somewhat like we
yø̯	yö, työtä	no English equivalent: French pollueuse

Notes

^ Most Finnish consonants usually contrast between shorter and longer pronunciation. Long consonants are marked with the symbol /ː/.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d [b], [f], [ɡ], and [ʃ] occur only in loanwords. In casual speech, they may be replaced with [p], [ʋ], [k], and [s], respectively.
^ ^a ^b ^c /n/ has three allophones: [ŋ] before /k/, [m] before /p/ (or [b]) or /m/, and [n] elsewhere.
^ All Finnish vowels have both a long and a short phoneme.

References

Suomi, Kari; Toivanen, Juhani; Ylitalo, Riikka (2008), Finnish sound structure, ISBN 978-951-42-8983-5

External links

Pronunciation of Finnish in a nutshell

[1] Most Finnish consonants usually contrast between shorter and longer pronunciation. Long consonants are marked with the symbol /ː/.

[loanwords-2] [b], [f], [ɡ], and [ʃ] occur only in loanwords. In casual speech, they may be replaced with [p], [ʋ], [k], and [s], respectively.

[mng-3] /n/ has three allophones: [ŋ] before /k/, [m] before /p/ (or [b]) or /m/, and [n] elsewhere.

[4] All Finnish vowels have both a long and a short phoneme.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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