Language/Finnish/Grammar/The-Finnish-Alphabet

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Finnish → Grammar → The Finnish Alphabet

Learning a new language can be both exciting and challenging. Starting with the alphabet is often the first step and it is no different for learning Finnish. However, the Finnish alphabet has some unique characters that may be unfamiliar to learners who are used to the Latin alphabet. In this lesson, we will learn the Finnish alphabet and its unique characters.

The Finnish Alphabet

The Finnish alphabet has 29 letters, similar to the English alphabet. However, there are some unique characters that do not exist in English or other Latin-based languages. These characters are:

  • Ä/ä (ärrä) - pronounced as "a" in "cat"
  • Ö/ö (öö) - pronounced as "e" in "her"

These characters may look daunting, but they are actually quite easy to learn and pronounce correctly with practice.

Here is the Finnish alphabet with its corresponding pronunciation:

Finnish Pronunciation English
A, a a a
B, b bee b
C, c cee c
D, d dee d
E, e e e
F, f effe f
G, g gee g
H, h hoo h
I, i ee i
J, j yee j
K, k koo k
L, l elle l
M, m emme m
N, n enne n
O, o oh o
P, p pee p
Q, q ku q
R, r erre r
S, s esse s
T, t tee t
U, u oo u
V, v vee v
W, w kaksois-vee w (foreign word)
X, x iks x (foreign word)
Y, y yy y
Z, z tsetta z (foreign word)
Ä, ä ämmä a (like "a" in "cat")
Ö, ö öö e (like "e" in "her")

Note that the pronunciation listed here is just a guideline and that there are slight regional variations in pronunciation.

Now that we have learned the Finnish alphabet and its unique characters, we can move on to learning basic Finnish phonetics and pronunciation in the next lesson.

Practice

Practice writing and pronouncing the Finnish alphabet. Try to memorize the pronunciation of each letter and its corresponding English translation.


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