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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.
Wikipedia key to pronunciation of Finnish
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 Template:IPA 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 b ussi[ 2] b ig
d lad ot ad ept
f f ilmi[ 2] f ilm
ɡ mag ia [ 2] g o
h h evonen, vah ah orse
j j ouluy olk
k k alasc old
kː lakk i backg ammon
l l aul ul ack
lː pull o taill ight
m m etsäon pa [ 3] m ay
mː kamm io Ahvenanm aa [ 3] roomm ate
n n en än anny
nː kann u unn atural
ŋ ken kä [ 3] sing
ŋː vang ita sing ing
p p uup ool
pː lipp u flipb ook
r r autarolled r, like Spanish perr o
s s inäs egovina
between s ip and sh ip (retracted )
sː kiss a between this s ip and trash sh ip (retracted)
ʃ š akkiSh anghai[ 2] sh ip
t t inast and
tː hatt u outd o
ʋ v ihabetween v et and w et
ʒ
Solž enitsyn[ 2]
visi on
ʔ vaa’ an linja- auto the pause in uh- oh
Stress
IPA Examples
Explanation
ˈ he vonen[ˈheʋonen]
Normally placed on the first syllable.
ˌ hernekeit to [ˈherneˌkːei̯tːo]
A second syllable in some compound words.
tule ! [ˈtuˌle]
The second syllable in two-syllable imperatives.
Vowels [ 4]
Short
Long
IPA Examples
English approximation
IPA Examples
English approximation
ɑ pouta like fa ther, but shorter
ɑː poutaa fa ther
æ pöytä ca t
æː päivää ma d
e te rve le t
eː ee stipay
i vi ha city
iː sii ka see
o o ksalike mo re, but shorter
oː koo staa mo re
ø pö ly somewhat like nur se
øː säröö n somewhat like bir d
u su rma influ ence
uː suu ruo an coo l
y kesy somewhat like cu te
yː ryy ppy somewhat like cu be
Diphthongs
IPA Examples
English approximation
ɑi̯ ai kaeye
ɑu̯ au rahow
æi̯ äi timai n (Australia )
æy̯ täy tyy somewhat like mou th (Estuary English )
ei̯ ei hei pay
eu̯ neu traali somewhat like mou th (Dublin English ), Spanish or Italian neu tro
ey̯ keskey tyä no English equivalent
ie̯ kie li somewhat like ye s
iu̯ viu lu few
iy̯ siistiy tyä no English equivalent
oi̯ koi ttaa koe ttaa coi n
ou̯ ou toro le
øi̯ töi tä no English equivalent: French feuill e
øy̯ pöy ristyä ro pe (Received Pronunciation )
ui̯ mui ta rui n
uo̯ Suo mi somewhat like woah
yi̯ syi tä somewhat like we
yø̯ yö työ tä no English equivalent: French pollueu se
^ Most Finnish consonants usually contrast between shorter and longer pronunciation. Long consonants are marked with the symbol /ː / .
^ a b c d e [b] , [f] , [ɡ] , [ʃ] , and [ʒ] occur only in loanwords. In casual speech, they may be replaced with [p] , [ʋ] , [k] , [s] 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.
Comparisons Introductory guides
