Length
All phonemes (including /ʋ/ and /j/, see below) can occur doubled phonemically as a phonetic increase in length. Consonant doubling always occurs at the boundary of a syllable in accordance with the rules of Finnish syllable structure.
Some example sets of words:
- tuli = fire, tuuli = wind, tulli = customs
- muta = mud, muuta = other (partitive sg.), mutta = but, muuttaa = to change or to move
A double /h/ is rare in standard Finnish, but possible, e.g. hihhuli, a derogatory term for a religious fanatic. In some dialects, e.g. Savo, it is common: rahhoo, or standard Finnish rahaa "money" (in the partitive case). The distinction between /d/ and /dː/ is found only in foreign words; natively 'd' occurs only in the short form. While /ʋ/ and /j/ may appear as geminates when spoken (e.g. vauva, raijata ), this distinction is not phonemic, and is not indicated in spelling.
In dialects or in colloquial Finnish, /ʋ/, /d/, and /j/ can have distinctive length, especially due to final consonant mutation, e.g. sevverran (sen verran), kuvvoo (kuvaa), teijjän (teidän).
Read more about this topic: Finnish Phonology
Famous quotes containing the word length:
“People are always dying in the Times who don’t seem to die in other papers, and they die at greater length and maybe even with a little more grace.”
—James Reston (b. 1909)
“At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth
Of thieves and murderers: there I him espied
Who straight, Your suit is granted,said, and died.”
—George Herbert (1593–1633)
“All expression of truth does at length take this deep ethical form.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)