A syllable ending in a simple vowel or diphthong is called _open_: one
ending in a consonant or the aspiration is called closed. E.g. =I-sä=,
_father_, =tuo-da=, _to bring_, consist of open syllables: =kis-sat=,
_cats_, =kir-jat=, _books_, of closed.
As already stated, a word cannot begin or end with more than one
consonant.
If a double consonant occurs in the middle of a word the first letter
must be pronounced with the preceding vowel and the second with the
succeeding, e.g. =pal-lo=, not =pall-o=.
=1.= (1) At the end of the first syllable of a word two consonants are
tolerated, provided the first be =l=, =r=, =n=, or =m=, and the second
=k=, =t=, =p=, or =s=. =Pilk-ku=, _a spot_, =kent-tä=, _a field_,
=simp-sukka=, _pearl_: otherwise one of the consonants must be rejected.
=2.= (2) At the end of the second or succeeding syllables may stand
only one consonant, and every word must end with a vowel or one of the
consonants =n=, =r=, =s=, =t=, =l= (rare), or the aspiration.
If the grammatical changes cause an agglomeration of consonants which
does not come under these rules, the consonants must be simplified or
changed; =syöks-tä= becomes =syöstä=: =avaim= (for =avaime=) becomes
=avain=.
One of the most characteristic features of the Finnish language is what
is called the _Harmony of the vowels_. Besides the division of the vowels
according to length, there is another by which they are classified
according to their quality as follows:—
Hard =a=, =o=, =u=.
Soft =ä=, =ö=, =y=.
Neutral =e=, =i=.
Long vowels and diphthongs belong to the same class as their component
elements, which can never be discordant, that is to say, =ay= or =äu= are
impossible combinations.
The first syllable of a word may contain any of these vowels. The
formation of the remaining syllables is determined by the following
rules:—
(1) If the first syllable contains a hard vowel, the vowels in the other
syllables must be either hard or neutral, but not soft, =Kala=, _a fish_:
ablative, =kalalta=. =Ansaita=, _to deserve_, =ansaitsevat=, _they
deserve_.
(2) If the vowel in the first syllable is soft, then the vowels of all
the other syllables must be soft or neutral, but not hard. =Tölli=, _a
cottage_, =töllissä=, _in the cottage_; =kätkein=, =käkeittäköön=.
(3) If the vowel in the first syllable is neutral, two cases occur.
(_a_) If the vowel of the second syllable is hard, as in the word
=vieras=, the succeeding vowels must be either hard or neutral:
=vierahaksi= (transitive case).
(_b_) If the vowel of the second syllable is either soft _or neutral_,
all the other vowels must be soft or neutral, but not hard. =Retki=, _a
journey_, partitive case, =retki-ä=; =sirppi=, _sickle_, =sirppiä=.
It will thus be seen that there are two forms of every termination
in Finnish, one containing hard and the other a soft vowel. Thus the
ablative ends in =-lta= or =-ltä=: =maa=, =maalta=, but =työ=, =työltä=.
The hard and soft vowels are never found coexisting in any simple Finnish
word, but there is no objection to such a compound as =kirkko-väki=,
=kirkko-isä=.
This principle of vowel harmony is really extremely natural, and
facilitates pronunciation, as will be seen by the example of French. An
Englishman pronouncing such combinations as _voulu_, or _du tout_ has, if
not accustomed to the language, a tendency to say _voulou_, _du tut_,
making the two vowels the same, because the sudden change in the position
of the pronouncing organs required to say _u_ or _ou_, or vice versa, is
a matter of some difficulty. It is the consciousness of this difficulty
which has led Finnish and other languages to adopt the rule that the
vowels of a word must be of the same character, so that no rude change
may be necessary for their pronunciation.
This vowel harmony is not found in all the Finno-Ugric languages. In
its fully developed form it exists (_v._ Dr. Donner, die gegenseitige
Verwandschaft der Finnish-ugrischen Sprachen, p. 9) only in Finnish, the
Dorpat dialect of Esthonian, Hungarian, one dialect of Tcheremissian
and one of Vogulian. In many others of these languages it is found
in an incomplete form, whence some think that it is an original
characteristic of the Finno-Ugric group, which has been lost by some
tribes whose phonetic sense was not keen. Some authorities hold that in
the Finno-Ugric language there are two kinds of vowel harmony: firstly,
that prevailing between the different syllables of a stem, which is
characteristic of all the tongues included in this group, and secondly
that which assimilates the vowels of suffixes to those of the stem—i.e.
that which obliges us to say =repinyt= and not =repinut=. This latter
species of vowel harmony is not primitive, but has been gradually
developed, perfectly in Finnish and Hungarian, and imperfectly in the
other languages. This view seems very reasonable.