< Finnish

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In short, the basic alphabet of the Finnish language: Aakkoset: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z å ä ö


Finnish is a very phonetic language, as every pronunciation has its own letter. That is to say that things are "pronounced exactly as they are written" so SAMPA and IPA notations of Finnish words are almost identical to the written language. However, do not take this too literally; there are certainly many details in speech that cannot be easily expressed in written language, and Finnish is no exception.

The glyphs 'ä' and 'ö' have been borrowed from Swedish. They are independent letters and phonemes (sounds), not modified nor accented letters. Changing 'Ä' into 'A' or 'Ö' into 'O' is akin to changing 'O' into 'Q'.

  • Ä is similar to the following bolded sounds in English: "A fat pancake man sat on a cat."
  • Ö is similar to the following bolded sounds in British English: "Girls all over the world tried to figure out what all the words mean until a consensus was reached that it cannot be worked out."

Go through each of the letters of the alphabet and practice saying them:

LetterPronunciationIPAEnglish approximationAudio sample
Aaaahɑaunt
Bbbehbbest
Ccsehscement
Dddehddemonstrate
Eeeeheelectricity
Ffaefffaffection
Gggehggave
Hhhohhhold
Iieehieat
Jjyeejyield
Kkkoohkcovert
Llaellaltitude
Mmaemmambrosia
Nnaennant
Oooohooval
Pppeehppellet
Qqkuuhkcook Q
Rraerrarrogant
Ssaessask
Ššhattu-aesʃshoot; used mainly in transliteration and optionally in some borrowed words, e.g. seriffi.
Ttteehttepid
Uuooufoot
Vvveehvvery
Wwkahksoisveehvvery. This is not an independent letter in Finnish, but an variant of V often used archaicly. In a Finnish dictionary, you will find words beginning with v and w mixed.
Xxaexksaxe
Yyeewycute
Zztsetzlike ts
Žžhattu-tsetʒmirage, treasure; used mainly in transliteration.
Ååruotsalainen oohooval; used only in Swedish names.
ÄäaeaeæAdam asks for apple advice
ÖöoeoeøCurled girl spoke an absurd word
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