When two vowels are found together from the loss of a consonant or
other causes, they frequently become a long vowel or a diphthong. This
phenomenon is called Contraction, and occurs frequently in Finnish. It
can, like the loss of final vowels, be easily accounted for on phonetic
grounds, if it be remembered that the tonic accent of a word is always
on the first syllable, so that there is a natural tendency to drop or
pronounce quickly syllables at the end of words.