3 ms·

Finn here. It's true that Finnish spelling is very simple. The mapping of sounds to letters is quite regular, and much more so than in English. As an example,

Finn here. It's true that Finnish spelling is very simple. The mapping of sounds to letters is quite regular, and much more so than in English. As an example, the word 'computer' is 'tietokone'. The pronunciation is [tietokone]. As a result, a "spelling bee" is a completely foreign concept in Finland. A Finnish spelling bee would go on for days. The grammar of Finnish, on the other hand, is very irregular and full of exceptions. There are 16 noun cases. This makes Finnish laborious for English-speakers to learn.

Meai 11y ago
Well I believe finnish is not as defined as german, what's up with all these random 'ä'? When you say "kyntillä" out loud, the last character sounds more like an 'a' than an 'ä'
- villesundberg 11y ago
  In Finnish, the letter 'ä' denotes the vowel [æ], which is close to the vowel you'd use in the words 'cat' or 'hat' in English. This sound, to my knowledge, doesn't exist in Standard German.
- kiiski 11y ago
  If the word (I think you mean "kynttilä=candle"?) is pronounced correctly, the last character sounds like an "ä", which is a completely seperate character from "a". In fact, you can't even have an "a" in the same word with a "y" due to the vowel harmony rules. The thing that makes Finnish alphabet very easy, is that every character corresponds to one sound (with the exception of "c", which can be either "k" or "s", but it isn't actually used in Finnish (it just exists for legacy and compatibility with Swedish)) and vice versa (with the exceptions of "w=v" and "å=o", but, again, they're not used in Finnish) That is, a character will always sound the same, regardless of what is around it. There are no silent letters. No things like "ea -> ee" or "ph -> f" (if you write two different characters, you also pronounce two different sounds). No single vowels that randomly became long vowels (like English "ski -> skee" rather than "sky").

Meai 11y ago

Well I believe finnish is not as defined as german, what's up with all these random 'ä'? When you say "kyntillä" out loud, the last character sounds more like an 'a' than an 'ä'

villesundberg 11y ago
In Finnish, the letter 'ä' denotes the vowel [æ], which is close to the vowel you'd use in the words 'cat' or 'hat' in English. This sound, to my knowledge, doesn't exist in Standard German.
kiiski 11y ago
If the word (I think you mean "kynttilä=candle"?) is pronounced correctly, the last character sounds like an "ä", which is a completely seperate character from "a". In fact, you can't even have an "a" in the same word with a "y" due to the vowel harmony rules. The thing that makes Finnish alphabet very easy, is that every character corresponds to one sound (with the exception of "c", which can be either "k" or "s", but it isn't actually used in Finnish (it just exists for legacy and compatibility with Swedish)) and vice versa (with the exceptions of "w=v" and "å=o", but, again, they're not used in Finnish) That is, a character will always sound the same, regardless of what is around it. There are no silent letters. No things like "ea -> ee" or "ph -> f" (if you write two different characters, you also pronounce two different sounds). No single vowels that randomly became long vowels (like English "ski -> skee" rather than "sky").