Consonant gradation

Consonant gradation in a nutshell

Consonant gradation is a specific kind of variation inside a word stem. It means variation between alternatives called strong grade and weak grade involving a stop (a k, p, or t sound, or rarely a g, b, or d) at least in the strong grade. The weak grade mostly appears at the start of a closed syllable (i.e., a syllable ending with a consonant).

In the following examples, the n suffix makes the last syllable closed, causing the weak grade: kato : kadon, katto : katon, pelto : pellon. The examples illustrate gradation of t in different contexts.

Basic rules of gradation

Consonant gradation applies to the voiceless stops k, p, and t when they appear as the last consonant of a word stem, as follows:

• If a word has a double consonant kk, pp, or tt in a “strong” position before the end of the word stem, they turn to the corresponding single consonant in a “weak position”. In grammars, this is often called quantitative gradation.
• Single k, p, and t in a strong position similarly turn to –, v, or d, respectively. Here the dash “–” denotes lack of any sound or letter. This is often called qualitative gradation, since the stop changes to another sound of vanishes. Instead of d, almost all dialects have some other sound here (or no sound).

Basically, a position is “strong” if the syllable is open, “weak” otherwise. In addition to calling the position strong or weak, we can also say that the consonants are in the strong grade or in the weak grade.

In consonant gradation when a word has boundary gemination at the end, it is treated as ending in a consonant, corresponding to usual pronunciation. For this reason, most basic forms of nouns ending with e in spelling have strong grade, e.g. liike : liikkeen.

Consider the word hattu (hat). The double tt participates in consonant gradation. In the basic form, the syllable structure is hat.tu, and the open syllable tu causes the strong grade tt. If the suffix n is appended, the last syllable becomes closed, requiring the weak grade t, i.e. hatun (syllable division: ha.tun). The suffix ssa has the same effect, hatussa (ha.tus.sa). What matters here is the syllable tus, since it follows the location where the gradation takes place.

We can describe this also by saying that evey word where consonant gradation takes place has two alternative stems, one with strong grade and one with weak grade, e.g. hattu and hatu. The weak grade is used when a suffix is appended so that the syllable containing the last vowel of the stem becomes closed. Additional examples, with syllable boundaries marked: hat.tu.a, hat.tu.ja, hat.tu.jen but ha.tul.la, ha.tuil.la, ha.tuk.si.

Thus, for example, when the basic form of a word ends with a vowel, forming the nominative plural with the t suffix usually causes consonant gradation. Examples: lakki : lakit (cap), pappi : papit (priest), matto : matot (mat); laki : lait (law), lupa : luvat (permission), koti : kodit (home).

Due to the effects of syllable structure, some consonants that would otherwise participate in gradation remain invariant. For example, the double tt in keittiö (kitchen) remains in all forms: keittiön, keittiössä etc. The reason is that there is a syllable break before the ö in all forms. This word is derived from the verb keittää (to cook), which has regular gradation, e.g. keitän (I cook), keitämme (we cook). But the derivational suffix -iö changes the situation, since it contains a syllable break.

Gradation in consonant combinations

Consonant gradation takes place when the stop (double or single) is between vowels or it is part of a combination that starts with h, l, m, n, or r. However, the hk combination may or may not participate in gradation, depending on the word and on dialect; for some words, both alternatives can be used in standard Finnish (e.g. vihko : vihkon or vihon).

In some combinations of consonants with a stop as the second component, special gradation takes place:

• hk, lk, and rk vary with hj, lj, and rj under certain constraints before e and i, e.g. järki : järjen (reason, as a property of human beings)
• nk varies with ng, e.g. kenkä : kengät (shoe)
• mp varies with mm, e.g. lampi : lammet (small lake)
• lt, nt and rt vary with ll, nn, and rr, e.g. ranta : rannan (shore, beach)
• Otherwise, a stop following another consonant does not participate in gradation, e.g. masto : maston, matka : matkan.

Gradation and the basic form

Since nouns usually end with a vowel in the dictionary form (nominative singular), that form mostly has strong grade, e.g. kukka : kukan (flower). If a noun ends with a consonant in the dictionary form, it has weak grade, e.g. ommel : ompelen (stitch). Dictionary forms ending with e usually have a final consonant in pronunciation (see Boundary gemination) and thus weak grade, e.g. aie : aikeen (intention), syke : sykkeen (pulsation).

In contrast, the dictionary form of a verb (I infinitive) has strong grade, since such forms normally consist of a stem ending in a vowel and the infinitive suffix A, tA, or dA. For example, sulkea (to close) consists of the stem sulke- and the infinitive suffix a. The grade is therefore strong, lk, and in many other forms, as in suljen (I close), it is replaced by the weak grade lj. Contraction verbs like kerrata : kertaan are an exception to this, as described in the next subsection.

Finnish grammars sometimes call gradation “direct”, if the dictionary form has strong grade, as in kukka : kukan, and “indirect” if it has weak grade, as in ommel : ompelen and sulkea : suljen. However, dictionary forms have no special status in gradation.

Exceptions to grade selection

The following exceptions apply to the choice of strong versus weak grade:

• Before a long vowel, the grade is always strong. For example, the illative of kukka (flower) is kukkaan, event though the word ends with a consonant. The reason is that the suffix was earlier han and not an, and in the form kukkahan (still used in some dialects and in poetry), the double consonant kk appears before the final vowel of an open syllable (the syllables are kuk, ka, han).
• In partitive plural forms with a three-syllable stem and tA as case suffix, the grade is weak, e.g. lusikka : lusiko|i|ta.
• In illative plural forms of many words, the weak grade is possible, as an alternative to the strong grade, which follows general rules. In some of these words, the weak grade is more common, e.g. yksikkö : yksiköihin ∼ yksikköihin.
• In other plural case forms, the grade is strong, if the corresponding singular form has a vowel lengthening in suffix (and hence strong grade). For example, the elative plural of rengas (ring) is renkaista, because the elative singular is renkaasta. In contrast, the elative plural of lanka (thread) is langoista, since the elative singular langasta lacks a long vowel.
• The grade is also strong in plural case forms (except the nominative) of words with s : t variation, e.g. (käsi : kädet : kätenä :) käsillä. In such forms, the strong grade t has changed to s (before i) during the history of the language.
• Before a possessive suffix, the grade is always strong. For example, the word forms kukka, kukat (flowers), and kukan (of flower) all become kukkansa, when the 3rd person possessive suffix nsa is appended.
• The basic infinitive of a contraction verb has weak grade, e.g. hakata : hakkaan. The reason why e.g. the 1st person singular form has strong grade is the long vowel. In other types of verbs, the basic infinitive has strong grade and the 1st person singular form has weak grade, e.g. rikkoa : rikon.
• Before a 4th person suffix (called “passive suffix” in most grammars), the grade is always weak. For example, the verb rikkoa (to break) has the strong stem rikko- and the weak stem riko-, e.g. rikkovat (they break), rikon (I break). In 4th person forms, the weak stem is used: rikotaan, rikottiin, rikottaisiin etc.
• In derived verbs with the derivational suffix OidA, the grade is weak before the suffix, e.g. otsikko → otsikoida, isäntä → isännöidä.
• Words that normally participate in boundary gemination are interpreted as ending with a consonant, even if the actual pronunciation in some situations lacks a consonant. Thus, the imperative of ottaa (to take) is ota, with a weak grade as in otan, otat etc., and we have syöte (input), even though the t is in gradation (the genitive is syötteen etc.).

Words exempted from gradation

Consonant gradation is not applied to the following:

• Single stops in
  • relatively new loanwords, such as auto : autot (car)
  • many “made-up” new words, such as hetu : hetun (a word formed as an abbreviation of henkilötunnus, personal number) or laku : lakun (colloquial for lakritsi “liquorice”)
  • many first names, such as Aapo : Aapon; some names have variation, e.g. Satu : Sadun ∼ Satun
  • some surnames, especially “made-up” names, such as Arko : Arkon
• Stops in foreign names, such as Atlanta : Atlantassa. In speech, gradation is often applied to double consonants, but this is not indicated in standard writing, e.g. Olivetti : Olivettin [olivetin]. Some foreign names have special Finnish forms, and to them, gradation is usually applied, e.g. Englanti : Englannissa (England), Riika : Riiassa (Riga).
• Some proper names, especially nicknames like Stokka : Stokan (denotes the Stockmann warehouse), Botta : Botan, Skatta : Skattan. But with gradation e.g. Nykki : Nykin (nickname for New York).
• In some Western dialects, double consonants in proper names in general, e.g. Reetta : Reettan (standard: Reetan). Such usage can sometimes be seen e.g. in newspapers, too.
• The hk combination in most words, e.g. pahka : pahkan. There is gradation in some two-syllable stems; there are no general rules for this, so consult a dictionary when needed. In some words, gradation may or may not take place, e.g. vihko : vihon ∼ vihkon. For example, the noun uhka (threat) may or may not have gradation (uhan ∼ uhkan, but the verb uhata (threaten) definitely has gradation, e.g. uhkaa (threatens). When there is gradation, the weak grade is usually hj before e or i (e.g. lahkeet : lahje), but there are some exceptions (e.g. vihkiä : vihin). The variation is caused by dialect differences, and some variants, such as nahka : nahkan, though accepted in standard language as an alternative to nahan, may be recognized as dialectal.

Gradation of voiced stops

Sometimes even a voiced double stop gg, bb, or dd may have consonant gradation in loanwords, e.g. blogata : bloggaan (two forms of a verb that means “to blog”). These are exceptions, however, and mostly apply to a few slang words. For example, there is no gradation in words like rabbi : rabbin.

In the newest dictionary of modern Finnish, Kielitoimiston sanakirja, gradation of voiced stops is not described as consonant gradation but as a change in stem that is similar to gradation. According to the grammar guide Kielitoimiston kielioppiopas, gradations gg : g and bb : b are possible for contraction verbs such as blogata, dubata, and logata.

Summary of consonant gradation

The following table summarizes the information presented above. The letters in the first column refer to the identifiers of classes of gradation types used in Kielitoimiston sanakirja.

Words with a gradation of a single t may also have the t : s variation, e.g. käsi : käte|nä : käde|n.

Effects of disappearance of k

When an intervocalic k disappeas in gradation, as in pako : paon (escape), a syllable break may be preserved, so that in the example, there are two syllables pa and on. In older language, this was often denoted using an apostrophe, as in pa’on, but this is not standard now and it looks outdated. Moreover, the syllable break may disappear, so that paon is a single syllable with a diphthong, though this is somewhat debatable.

Between a diphthong and a vowel that is the same as the second component of the diphthong, a syllable break is always preserved and it is indicated with an apostrophe, e.g. ruoko : ruo’on. The apostrophe only indicates that the two o’s belong to different syllables and do not form a long vowel.

An apostrophe is also used between a long vowel and the same vowel as short, e.g. vaaka : vaa’an. Between two identical short vowels, no apostrophe is used, and they form a long vowel when a k disappears, e.g. haka : haan, where the latter form is one syllable.

After a vowel ending with i, the general rules apply in principle, e.g. reikä : reiässä : rei’issä. However, in pronunciation the weak counterpart of k in such contexts is usually j or even jj, so way say (but should not write) reijässä or reijjässä, reijissä or reijjissä.

Exceptionally, in some words, the i in a diphtong is changed to the consonant j, namely in aika : ajan (time) and poika : pojan (son; boy). The regular forms would be aian and poian, but instead of forming a diphthong, the i turns to a consonant, causing a different syllable structure, eg. a.jan instead of ai.an. Other phonetically similar words have regular gradation, e.g. taika : taian (charm, spell; magic trick).

After a vowel ending with u, the disappearance of k often causes a v-like consonant to be pronounced, although no letter is written. The consonant varies: it could be (Finnish) v, or double vv, or a sound like English “w”. For example, tauon, the genitive of tauko (pause), is pronounced as written or tauvon or tauvvon or tauwon. When a u follows, as in naukua : nau’un (to miaow), some v-like sound is more common in pronunciation, e.g. nauwun.

Double gradation

Gradation takes place in the word stem, but a word may still have several consonants or consonant clusters in gradation. For example, there is normal gradation in the adjective hoikka : hoikan (slim). The comparative of this adjective, hoikempi (slimmer) in the basic form, has the weak grade, k. The comparative can be inflected, and then its mp, now appearing before the last consonant of the stem of the derived word, participates in the gradation mp : mm, e.g. hoikempi : hoikemman.

Participles of verbs may have double gradation, too. For example, the verb tietää (to know) has regular gradation t : d, e.g. tietää : tiedän. Its participle tiedetty (known) has the weak grade d in all forms, but it has tt : t gradation later in the word, e.g. tiedetty : tiedetyssä.

Ambiguity caused by gradation

As we can see from the summary table above, there are many word forms that could contain a weak grade with different strong grades in other forms of the same word. In a word form like luvun, there is nothing that says whether the dictionary form is luku or lupu or luvu. It is just a matter of the vocabulary that luku (number) is a real word and lupu and luvu are not.

It is also possible that a word may be a form of two different words due to gradation. For example, lavan can be the genitive of lava (platform, stand), but also the genitive of lapa (shoulder). This seldom causes confusion except in language learning; usually the context removes the ambiguity. Yet, the phenomenon constitutes an infinite source of playful intentional misunderstandings and word jokes.

However, even the sentence context is not sufficient for resolving the ambiguity of the following text: Ilmoitus teille varatuista ajoista. It means “A note on times reserved for you”, with ajoista being a form (elative plural) of aika (time), but ajoista is also the same form of the noun ajo, which means many things like run (e.g. test run). Only the wider substantial context helps to make sure which interpretation is correct.

Two verbs may have the same dictionary form (the basic infinitive) but differences in other forms due to gradation. The reason is that the dictionary form always has the strong grade. For example, the infinitive tavata may mean “to meet” or “to spell, to read by syllables”. These are really two different verbs, and e.g. the normal indicative forms are tapaan, tapaat, tapaa etc. versus tavaan, tavaat, tavaa etc.