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Finnish

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Proto-Uralic to Finnish sound changes

A few general sources:

More stuff linked inline.

Technotes

  • Here, /@/ is NOT an ASCIIfication of /ə/, but any vowel that assimilates to the preceding vowel. This comes useful with cases of compensatory lengthening and echo vowels.
  • Similarly, /A O U/ are harmonic vowels which will assimilate to either /a o u/ or /æ ø y/ depending on the harmony. /a/ is to be understood as [ɑ].
  • /ˣ/ is the assimilatory final, pronounced as lengthening of the next word's initial consonant, or in case of null initial, [ʔː] or hiatus. Very rarely, it occurs within words, too (usually sandwiched between two instances of the same vowel.)
  • /C/ represents any consonant; /V/ represents any vowel; and /X/ represents any 2nd mora in a syllable (be it consonantal, diphthongal or chronemical).

I've grouped similar changes together under sub-headings, so the order of unrelated changes might not be exactly chronological whenever no reference was available. Also, since the document is headed towards Standard Finnish, I've had to cut a few corners anyway when maneuvering around dialectal changes... in a few cases picking the most represented outcome wasn't all that clear.

Proto-Uralic to Pre-Finnic

[Supposedly 4000 BCE to 3000 BCE]

The existence of "Proto-Finno-Samic" ("-Volgaic", "-Permic", "-Ugric") as distinct from PU is unclear, hence "Pre-Finnic". Changes shared with Samic are in indigo, those also shared with Mordvinic in green, and those with even wider distribution in orange.

Word-final */ŋ/ → k in the lative ending (Samic and?), → n elsewhere (!dubious, pre-Uralic?)

Monophthongization (dubious)

  • iw → y / _C (distribution?)
  • potentially: ow → uː / _C (kuusi 'Abies')

Introduction of length from loss of preconsonantal *x (may have been [ə]).

  • x → @ / _C (huosi- kieli kuole- kuusi 'Abies' nuole- nuoli suomu tuomi tuuli. Samoyedic confirmation of *x unavailable for kuori kuule- liemi mieli pieni piere- puoli sieni uudin vieri vuoli vuori, contradictory for niele- suoni. Possibly also in koi voi. Possibly a separate development in the numerals viisi kuusi.)

Alternately, coda *x may not have existed at all; most of the concerned words can be explained via a change A → Aː / _Rə (ie. before an anterior resonant in close-vowel stems). Exception: pane- [1] The origin of long close vowels uu ii is not securely founded, outside of syllable contractions (see below).

koi voi also seem to derive from *ka(x)jə wa(x)jə (no lengthening/raising occurs in *täjə → täi however).

Coda nasal simplification

  • m → n / _{t tsʲ #} (Finnic, Mordvinic; medially also Permic, Mansi)

Stressed vowels — unconditional changes

  • ë(ː) → *a(ː)
  • aː æː → oː eː (but postdates unconditional stressed non-high vowel lengthening in Samic. Exception: ääni, possibly due to initial position)

Stressed vowels — conditional changes?

  • e → i / #j_ (ilma ~ OU *jeeləm, itse ~ Ms *(j)is, jyvä ~ IE *jeva)

Unstressed vowels

  • aw → o (the presence of -w rarely is shared, so this may also be analogical)
  • əw → u (apparent in nomina verbum; not shared, but probably contemporary with *Aw → o)
  • a → æ / {æ e ê i ü}X*_ (if not an original distinction; vowel harmony fails only in Samic and Permic)
  • ə → e
  • e → i / _#
  • e → ɤ / {a o u}X*_ (if not just South Finnic; not evident in NF)

Pre-Finnic to Proto-Finnic

[Ca. 3000 BC to 2000 BC] (likely also incomplete; this is the section of changes not shared by other branches of Uralic)

Vowel changes

  • V# → Vː (affects most old CV words, eg. muu nuo tuo. Exceptions me te he se ne, the first two of which display -k in Livonian, -t in Far Northern dialects.)
  • *ê *ô → e o / _(X)Ci (new hypothetical vowels for PU, possibly semi-rounded [ɪ ʊ])
            → y ɯ → y i / _(X)CA
  • ej → i / unstress'd
  • i → y / _wä (hyvä jyvä syvä)
  • ä → e / _j unstress'd
  • a → e / {o u}[+STR](X)C_j
       → o / {a e i}[+STR](X)C_j
       → a / elsewhere

(Other instances of unstressed /aj/, eg. in plurals of derivativs, shift too, but analogical leveling has render'd it impossible to tell whether the original result was /ej/ or /oj/.)

Loss of *x, *ŋ & medial *w. These may have merged in some ways. Medial cases:

*x *ŋ *w
(N/A) UŋA → Oː (myö-tä; but syyhy ~ S. *sëŋē ) UwA → Oː (hyö-tä- lyö- syö-kse- vuo)
(cf. retention variants hyvä syvä uv-e)
uxə → oː (juoda, unless this is *ë or *ô, puo)
 Uŋə → Uː (kuu pyy uu-ttu; but ŋ → w in suvi tyvi) Uwə → Uː (luu puu suu tyyni)
(cf. retention variant tyven)
exə → øː/eː? (myö-; vie-?) eŋə → øː (pyörä) ewə → øː (syö- työ)
ixə → iː? (siili) iŋə → iː, (hiiri pii 'tooth' riihi sii 'beam' vii-me) (no change: kivi)
Axə → Aː (jää- maa saa- sää "filament" sääri ääri) Aŋə → Aː (jää kaari pää sää 'weather') (no change in savi; *äwi → äw in käy-)
oxi → oː (tuo-) oŋi → oː (luo luoda ; but ŋ → w in povi) (no change: ovi; lovi is ← Gmc)
possibly → w (arvo ← II argʰa) ŋ → w / _{U O}, elsewhere _A (pivo vävy, avaa- kevät) (no change: kevyt kova nivo- etc.)
  • suo may be an irregular development from PU *toxə, related to Samic *sōńë ~ *sōŋë (← *soNə?), or from *soxə ← preGmc *soigʷ-
  • syy may have had any of *x *w *j
  • vie- may be a dissimilation *wexe- → *weje- (expected **wewe-).
  • Possibly in suffixal formations, x → w / {U O}_C (souta- nouta-), → j / {I E}_C (keima-). May be identical with the development of *ŋ. Potentially, viisi kuusi belong here too?
  • ŋ remains / _k
       possibly → n / _t (ensi, unless *e-nti-; onte-)
       → w / _C (jauha- jousi joutsen), C_ (aivo ahven pilvi sauva)

Loss of medial *j in i/e-stems (retention elsewhere, sija etc.)

  • wI → i (medial unstressed new /i/!)
  • jə → @ / {i e ü}_ (kiehu- pii "Si" tie; kyy?)
       → j / {A o u}_ (koi soi- tai- täi uida voi, ?? koira, unless simply consonant-stem *koj-ra)
       → i / C_{# C) (järin neli- nurin veli vihi väli, perhaps rähise- ärise-; väri ~ värjää- is straight from Sw.)
  • /yje/ → */øː/ → yö
Dissimilation?
  • uw ij → ow ej / _C (souta- keima- again; perhaps jousi nouta- if not *ô)

Initial deaffrication. Newer apparent initial affricates are found in loanwords and onomatopoeia. (Should this go further back?)

  • ʧ ʦʲ → ʃ sʲ / #_

Depalatalization, commonly attributed to Germanic superstratum influence.

  • ʦʲ(ː) sʲ ðʲ lʲ → ʦ(ː) s ð l (may be older for *ðʲ)
    • Ć → jC / {e ä a}_V (-ise- paina- seiso- seitsemän veitsi, possibly suitsu, unlikely for oinas)
  • nʲ → nj / #(C)i_ä (i.e. after a short stressed /i/; miniä?)
       → @n / ü_V (kyynel kyynärä)
       → n (by default)
CCC simplification
  • ntt → tt (kattaa tuta) (or just *mtt?)
  • pst tst kst → st (kystä lasta; veistä; juosta piestä susta usta; -sormusta etc.) Last two forms archaic in F. (suksea uksea). Later in peistä. NB lapsta uksta, suormõks in Liv.
  • wst → st / o_ ? (nouse- → nosta-)
  • Common also in loanword adaptation since an early date.
    • Late PIE *arktos →→ F/Mo *okti "bear" (but path of loaning unknown)
    • Gmc ntj nkj → tj kj (examples TBA)

Middle Proto-Finnic to Late Proto-Finnic

The period after the separation of South Estonian and Livonian.

Loss of *ð and *ʧ

  • ð → t (may be gradation-related, shared with Mordvinic but not Samic. Put here to avoid requiring postulating intermediate *tʲ for the development of *ðʲ)
  • ʧː → tʃ (kaha kehä piha)
  • ʧ → t (Exceptions: haahka puhki. In pre-South Estonian, *ʧ → ts / _k)
  • Possibly in pre-Livonian and pre-SE: *tk → *kk before this (*kutki *kütke-j-mä → kukki kikiim, but eg. *piðka → pitka, *počka → potka).
  • Cf. also *kočka → F. kotka ~ kokko; *lakki- ~ latkia is prob contamination from li/atise-)

Assibilation, fed by all three previous changes

  • t → ʦ / _i
  • tj → ʦ

except after a coronal obstruent (the clusters /tt st ʃt/) or before a derivational suffix

Final clusters
  • ks nʦ nt → s s t / _# (jänis etc, kolmas etc, tuhat. First and last retained in Liv.)
Esh-drift
  • ʃ → ʂ → x (postdates old Baltic and Germanic loanwords; as well as the previous on account of blocking assibilation. Per Permic, the retroflex stage may date back quite far)
  • k t → ∅ / _x (cases with *kš: ahtera hihna huhta huuhto- mahi mehiläinen vaahtera vaha, possibly pahka, Estonian jähe pähn)
  • s → x / _l (pihlaja. Cf. the late str → sr → F. hr)

Nasal simplification part 2. Note old Germanic loans feeding -ntj-! Probably postdates the previous, given no simplification in *nx (vanha inho etc.)

  • n → ∅ / _(t)s (asia rasia nisä osa otsa kusi) (distribution?)

Paradigmatically reverted in cases of *-ntsi ~ *-nte- such as kansi, ponsi; not however in ordinals: kolmas ~ kolmante- (also note Est. kaas vel. sim. - a later reprise per compensatory lengthening? - and Liv. vuontsa - suggesting Gmc. loan origin?)

  • ln → lː (alla halla pellava yllä, -llA -lle if clitickized yet)

Results as:

Phonology of late Proto-Finnic

Consonant inventory
Lab. Dnt. Alv. Vel.
Nasals m n
Stops & affricate p t ʦ k
Fricatives s x
Lateral l
Rhotic r
Semivowels v j

(I'm marking *w → [ʋ] as /v/ from now on, for brevity. The change is practically impossible to date.)

Syllable structure (C)V(@, i, U, C)(C). Coda /p/ only occurred morpheme-internally.

/#ji #je #vu/ did not occur.

Allowed medial clusters included the following (and possibly more, depending on how many consonantal root forms were in existence yet by this stage):

  • /pː pt pʦ tː tk ʦː kː kt kʦ/ (/ʦk/?)
  • /mp nt nʦ ŋk/
  • /nx/
  • /ps ks/ (/kst/?)
  • /tn km/ (only intermorphemically)
  • /sm st sn sl sk xm xt xn xl xr xk/
  • all liquid + non-liquid combinations other than /ln/
  • Vj + any consonant
  • VU + /p t ʦ k s h m (n l?) v/
  • /ntː ŋkː rtː rkː lkː/?
  • various CC combinations preceded by Vj, VU or V@

VU + /j r/ are forbidden and metathesize to /jv rv/ in loans (haiven häivä laiva raiva- raivo, järvi karva tarvas torvi; kaivata with analogous gradation?). At an older stage, this included VU + /s x v/ → /sv (hv?) @v/ (kasva- rasva, haava kaava naava), but this was disrupted by the development *ŋ → U (jousi jauha- sauva). (Cf. J. Koivulehto: Suomen laiva-sanasta, Pinta ja rasva)

Note also kauha ~ kahva, kiuru ~ kirvinen, kuilu ~ kulju, pälvi ~ S. *pēvlë.

While several later common innovations affect both South Estonian and the remainder of Finnic, pre-Finnic *č is reconstructable in some cases per the former (*kačke- *kačku *kičke- *nočko *pučki *sičkajn) 

Vowel inventory
/i iː y yː      u uː /
/e eː   øː      o oː /
/æ æː      a aː      /
/ej ew          oj ow/
/æj æw    aj aw uj   /

/aː æː/ were rare, originally only occuring in about half a dozen roots each. (These new instances are of fuzzy origin, apparently loanwords acquired after the change to */oː eː/?)

/i e A o (u?)/ could occur in non-initial root syllables (plus /ej oj/ due to suffixal j).

Proto-Finnic to Proto-Finnish

[Ca. 2000 BCE to 1000 CE]

Difthong paradigm shift j w → i U / V_{C #} (not really phonetical; required for pre-diphthongal consonants not to gradate) - wait, but they do gradate in some dialects; needs bumping, then

Consonantal suffix and stem-forms

  • i → ∅ / VC_, ks_ suffix-finally
  • e → ∅ / stem-finally after a coronal

(This change could be much older and is actually more complex, but I don't know what's the latest understanding)

Consonant gradation. These all occur on the general condition that the folloing syllable is closed.

  • pː tː tsː kː → pˑ tˑ tsˑ kˑ / {sonorant}_V (the half-long stage can still itself trigger gradation; no gradation is found in Veps or Livonian)
  • p t ts s k → b d s z ɡ / {sonorant}_V

(NB: gradation of modern /ht hk/ is analogy-borne)

Suffixal gradation (needs elaboration)

  • p t s k → b d z ɡ / V[-STR]_V

Spirantization

  • b d ɡ → β ð ɣ / except N_ (may be later - not evident in Veps. Votic β ð ɣ → v ∅ g is probably a Russicism)
    • ɣ → j~v / V[-STR]_V (jalava kajava kataja etc.)
    • βi → U / _# (3PS -Pi)

Around this time there's also a paradigm shift wrt. /f/ in loanwords: the reflex of initial /f/ changes from /p/ to /v/. This could signify a change of [w] to [ʋ] in the position, but also of [ɸ] to [f] in the loaning languages (or even the onset of Grimm's law)! Medial /f/ does not seem to ever turn to /p/.

Loss of /v/ before labial vowels

  • v → ∅ / #_{o u y} (perhaps also: non-initially? kärventää ~ käry, kalvaa ~ kaluta — but late in *hehvo → hieho, maybe laiho ~ Vo laivo)

The consonant may have persisted before long vowels, but since a glide was epenthetically added there anyway (see next), there's no way to tell. Compensatory lengthening may have occurred before *u (*wuðʲi → uusi). Shared with Samic, Mordvinic & Mari, but note that this seems to be a late areal change — it is later than the South Finnic change from *o to *ɤ per *wo-tta- "to take" → *vɤtta- → Es. võtma- (however, note the counterexample *wolka → õlg).

Loss of */j/ before /i/ is likely of similar age, but Samic seems inconsistent (due to ē → jē / #_ ? cf. also no medial loss: *velji → veli, ~ *vēljɤ)

V-epenthesis

  • ∅ → v / #_oː (at least vuo vuohi vuona vuosi vuota; possibly vuole- vuori if *v-loss was originally complete)

Notable exception: 'uoma. Before *øː, treatment is inconsistent: vyö "belt", but yö "night" — homonym avoidance? Per *voohla → vohla "goat kid" (*voohi → vuohi "goat") this would seem to be the later of the two changes involving initial *v.

Vowel shifts

  • oi → o / [-STR] (but reverted back in many, though not all, cases where the -i was morphological)
  • Vː → V / _i (Clearly postdates epenthesis: voi ← *vooji. Also imperfects (myi söi toi etc.), obliq plurals (maita puita teitä etc.); keittää (cf. kiehua); possibly nai- (cf. naaras))
  • a → aː / _rn (aarni haarniska kaarna kaarne saarna saarni vaarna (check dating!))

Assimilation of many consonant clusters to geminates, etc. (Dating provisional for most, perhaps older.) All of these require a morpheme boundary somewhere in the cluster. A basically equivalent criterion is requiring a preceding unstressed syllable. Of these, /rn pt kt/ occurred root-medially, and were retained (though rn → rː may have occurred in aarre; cf. aarni - and kt → tː is required for tytär, which appears to be the only loan with the cluster around this timeframe. Võro has even root-medially pt kt → tː.)

  • kt(s) pt(s) → tː(s)
  • xk → kː (happens also across word boundaries, precluding the formation of /?/)
  • (t)(ː)sn → sː
  • rn → rː
  • pn tn kn ktn ptn (etc.) → nː (note esp. linna ~ Võ liin, Vo lidna; but vuonna ~ Vo voona, vuona ~ Vo võdna)
  • pm tm km (etc.) → mː

(The consequent obscuring of many inflected forms due to this and the previous change, esp. the essiv, however eventually caused many words to revert back, commonly with vowel insertion. Eg. *sut-na, *laps-na → sunna lassa → sutena lapsena. Note also *pekstä, *pekse- → piestä, piekse-)

Fricativ collapse, part 3

  • ʦ → s
  • ʦˑ/ː → θˑ/ː (remains gradational; etsi- itse joutsen katso- kitsas lietso- loitsi- kutsu- metsä ratsu otsa paatsama vatsa veitsi virtsa vitsa)
  • z → h
  • x(ː) → h (a spirantic pronunciation can still be found in coda position)


Shifts involving /h/ (unfinished)

  • e → @ / h_ in suffixes
  • p k → h / _t (With IE loanwords continuing to feed new /pt kt/, this rule remained active up until to the 20th century.)

Proto-Finnish to Standard Finnish

[Ca. 1000-1900 CE] These changes are, for the most part, only attested in the Finnish-Karelian continuum.

ö-harmony
  • ä → a / eC_C*o (elanto emakko erakko eranto kesakko kesanto venakko; ? epatto), eC_C*u (sepalus)
  • o → ö / {y ä ö}X*_ (analogically generalized to certain suffixes even in i/e-words, eg. heittiö, ',)

"Flavor": Voiced prenasal stops become geminate nasals, and (around the same time as in a whole lot of other European languages!) long mid vowels become opening diphthongs. Also, the weak grade of geminates coincides with the strong grade of singletons:

  • mb nd ŋg → mː nː ŋː
  • eː øː oː → ie yø uo (could be older; Estonian has uo → oo)
  • pˑ tˑ kˑ θˑ → p t k θ
More shifts with /h/
  • Vh → hV / {j v n r l}_# (aihe vaihe sauhu venhe unho parha- erhe perhe orhi murhe urho alhainen ylhäinen valhe; löyhä? dialectally regular)
    • dubbelmetathesis: imeh → *imhe → ihme
    • speaking of metathesis, also sn → ns (känsä runsas)
  • V → Vː / h_hC in haahka haahti hieho (← *hehvo) hiihtää huuhkaja huuhtoa (regular in Karelian)
    • also several other, irregular _hC cases
  • k h → ˣ / _#
  • t → ∅ / s_r (ahrain ihra kehrä ohra) (cf. next), then *sr → hr


Pre-sonorant stop vocalization (with an intermediate spirant stage)
Predominantly Germanic loanwords; a few Baltic, and (not necessarily too reliable) Uralic etymologies exists for *kopra *kotva *kupla *nakris *syklä. By the evidence of other Finnic languages, would-be *tl in loanwords is substituted by *kl (eg. *seeθla → *seekla).

  • p → U / _S (hauras kauris koura seura taulu teuras vauras äyräs; also note kupla, from a conservativ dialect)
        →v / _j (kavio)
  • t remains _{v, j} (katve ketju kotva latva lotja patja patvi vitja)
        → U / _r{A, O} (aura nöyrä peura puuro, possibly uuras)
        → @ / _r{i, e} (teeri; w/dialectal variants teiri, teyri, töyri; vetreä might be random metathesis from *verteä)
       
  • k → @ / _j (laaja raaja taaja vaaja)[2]
        → i / {i, e}_S{i, e} (eilen keila leili leiri neilikka peili teili teini tiili; probably rather occurred in loaning Finland Swedish dialects, except eilen, of unkno'n origin & where Karelian explicitly retains /kl/; dialectal variants eylen öylen. Also note kekri from a conservativ dialect, variants köyri etc.)
        → U / {A, O, U}_S (S≠j) (hauli kaula kaura käyrä kyyry myyrä mäyrä naula nauris naura- paula vaula väylä sauna syylä taula uuni vaunu; note vuokra, from a conservativ dialect); {i e}_Sa (neula seula siula siuna-)
Changes involving /j/
  • j → i / C_ suffix-initially (including cases where the plain root isn't found: asia kavio etc.)
Spirant loss
  • β → v
    • v → ∅ / _UC (aulis auttaa haukka hius keuhko kiukku kiusa köykäinen liueta liukas liukua reuhtoa riuska soukka säyseä tyyssija, possibly aukko loukko saukko)
  • ið → j / V[-STR]_V
  • ð remains V[+STR](X)_
        → l / l_
        → r / r_
        → ∅ / elsewhere
  • ɣ → j / C_e
        → v / U_U
        → ? / V1V2_V2 (including the cases of V1=V2; also V2≠U)
        → ∅ / elsewhere
  • h → ∅ / V[-STR](X)_V

Subsequent vowel changes in unstressed syllables (unfinished, may need to be meshed with the prev. section)

  • AO → Aː, Oː or Uː (seemingly irregularly)
  • Ae → Ai
  • Ue → eː
  • VU → Vː / _#
  • iU → Uː
  • OU → Oː (kokoontu-; but aitous etc.)
Initial-syllable labialization
  • ey → øy (exception: leyhyä. The regular variant löyhyä also exists)
  • i → y | _C*y (in non-productiv forms; at least lytty pysty pysy-, possibly pylly; vieri- → vyöry- may be contamination with pyörä)

The final stages of interdental loss began after or around the time of the creation of the literary language, seen in spellings such as <tz dh>. By standardization it was however practically complete. The standard outcome is largely a spelling pronunciation based on the example of German and Swedish:

  • θ(ː) → ts
    • Exceptions: → tː in mittumaari; → ht in vihta
    • Related hypercorrection ht → ts: otso
  • ð → d (commonly alveolar)
    • Exceptions: → ∅ in auer kahareisin kohentaa lähettää muuan navetta rehennellä rehellinen tuho yhyttää; → l in railo talikko

Most common dialectal variations for the former are t(ː) and ht~t, for the latter r and ∅.

Modern Standard Finnish

Modern Standard Finnish has the following consonant phonemes: 

p t    k (ʔ)
b d    ɡ
m n    ŋ
f s (ʃ) h
ʋ l r j

/b ɡ f ʃ/ only occur in loanwords and neologisms. /ʃ/ is rather marginal and usually replaced by /s/. [ʔ] occurs optionally word-initially before a vowel, and between two identical vowels.

The vowels are /i e æ ø y ɑ o u/. Vowel harmony continues to apply to suffixes, however in loanwords and neologisms /æ ø y/ and /ɑ o u/ can co-occur (psyko-, hyla, sekundääri). Examples of /æ/ and /ɑ/ co-occurring remain rare; even the lexicalized compound tällainen is usually pronounced [ˈt̪ælːæ(i)ne̞]. All vowels may occur long at any position of the word; however, (C)VVCC syllables occur only in very recent loans (pointti).

Any difthongs that end in -i/-y/-u and adhere to vowel harmony and the Obligatory Contour Principle are possible, tho in stressed syllables /ey/ is exceedingly rare (due to the change to /øy/; found only in the verb leyhy-) and /iy/ nonexistant.

The following sound changes (mostly old ones!) are commonplace in spoken Standard Finnish:

  • n → ∅ / _#
  • d → ∅/r in inherited vocabulary
  • Va → Vː / unstress'd
  • ie yö uo → ii yy uu / _A
  • ne le → @ / CVCV verb stems (mee paa oo tuu)

Proto-Finnic to Livonian

(OR)

Palatalization 1 (everywhere except in ?Votic, Finnish proper, some Estonian & Karelian dialects; possibly needs splitting)

  • t ts s(C) n l r → tʲ tsʲ sʲ(C) nʲ lʲ rʲ / _i

Deaffrication (near universal in Finnic, but note the exception here)

  • ts(ʲ) → s(ʲ) / except n_ (vuontsa)

Common South Finnic changes (Estonian, Võro, Votic)

  • e → ɤ / _C(C){a o u}
  • ä → a / [-STR] (phonemicizes the prev. - also in Veps. Not evident in Võro, but might be a later reintroduction of harmony)
  • h → ∅ / {# C}_ (initially only dialectally in Estonian)
  • Vn → Vː / _s (in Livonian only in new loans *kansa, *pensas; in E/Võ/Vo also from *nts, see prev.)

Umlaut

  • a ä → ä e / _C*i

Vowel reduction

  • V → ə / [-STR] ≠a (*u *i survive in certain suffixes, but never in roots)
  • a → ə / [-STR] VC(C)aC(C)_#, also always in verbal stems

Early length

  • Vh → Vːɦ / _C (except hj hv?)

Liquid metathesis

  • LV → VL / [-sonorant]_ (*atra → *atar, *putro → *putor, etc.) (may need relocation)

Voicing

  • p t(ʲ) k s(ʲ) → b d(ʲ) g z(ʲ) / when not initial or next to another voiceless segment (yes, final consonants voice too!)

Early glottalization

  • (C)VCV → (C)VʔCV

Apocope

  • ə → ∅ / _#, VC_CV

Gemination etc.

  • C → Cː / ʔ_V
  • gj dj lj rj → jg dʲ lʲː rʲː
  • dv zv lv rv jv → d z lː rː jː
  • Cv → C / elsewh.

Length II / degemination

  • VCːa → VːCa / [+sonorant] (preceeds general presonorant lengthening since *a → ō, *o → ūo from here)
  • Cː → C / except V_ə in verbs (unless this is a reflex of the infinitiv!?)

Vowel shift 1

  • aː au → ɔː ɔu (some new *aː develop in words like *parma → _paarm_ "gadfly")
  • eː (øː) oː → iːe (yːø) uːo
  • ɤ(ː) → ɨ(ː)

2nd glottalization

  • ɦ → ʔ

Sibilants (hard to date)

  • (t)sʲ (d)zʲ → (t)ʃ (d)ʒ

Vowel shift 2

  • y ø → i e
    • except äy ey → äu eu (may be original)
  • V → Vː / _[+sonorant]C(C)a (including diphthongs in -i, eg. *aitta → āita)
  • a → aː / VC_
  • e o → eː oː / _Ca
  • o → oː / _[+sonorant]C#, _i
  • eː oː → je wo (= <ie uo>, UPA /ⁱe ᵘo/)
    • wo → vo / #_
    • wo → ʊ / [+bilabial]_
  • ɔ(ː) → o(ː) (or just ill-transcribed?)


Notes for other Finnic languages

  • cf. Kettunen: Viron kielen äännehistoria, Vatjan kielen äännehistoria, SUST 252: Suomen lähisukukielten luonteenomaisimmat piirteet
  • All except Liv.: ks → s / _#
  • All except Savonian Finnish ~ Karelian: Vː → V / _h (old per no apocope: eg. Est. rohi, Veps roho)
  • Veps ~ Ludic ~ Karelian: ts(ː) → ʧ(ː)
    • Karelian proper: s → ʃ except / i_ (WTF? A 2nd round of depalatalization?), str → tr
    • Ludic & Veps: medial voicing, str → sr → zr
      • Veps proper: final voicing, degemination, s → ʃ / i_, palatalization / _i (viž kuź!), ä ü → a u / [-STR], iu eu → üu öu, loss of vowel length, l → u / V_C, dialectally: ei → iː, j → dʲ / #_
  • Estonian & Veps: trimoraic apocope
  • Estonian & Votic: o → ɤ / _(C*){i e}, _u, Vː → V / _h, h → ∅ / {n r l}_, loss of ð ɣ, *ee *oo remain (relower'd?)
    • Estonian: jh wh → hj hv / V_, Vi → Ve / _{r v}, akj akR → ai aeR, V → ∅ / VXC_#, high V → mid V / _nonhigh V, ü → i [-STR] (→ u in 3rd+ syllables, or anharmonic all along)
    • Votic: e → ɤ / [-STR] when back-vocalic, k → ʧ / _V[+front], kj → ɟɟ, h → ∅ / #_, st → sː (→ s if grad.), NP → P / V[-STR]_, k p → h / _s (cf. the similar common change _t), s → h / _ʧ, ʧ → s / #ʧVh_
This article is one of quite a few pages about Natlangs.

Indo-european natlangs:

Balto-Slavic Natlangs: Czech * Russian
Celtic Natlangs: Revived Middle Cornish * Pictish
Germanic Natlangs:
North Germanic Natlangs: Norwegian
West Germanic Natlangs: Anglo-Saxon * Dutch * English (Old English * Middle English * Modern English * Scots) * German (High German * Low German)
Indo-Iranian Natlangs: Pahlavi
Italic Natlangs: French * Italian * Latin * Spanish
Debated: Cimmerian

Uralic Natlangs: Finnish * Khanty * Mansi * Mordvinic * Proto-Uralic
Altaic (controversial): Japanese
Sino-Tibetan Natlangs:
Uto-Aztecan Natlangs: Nahuatl

-

Isolate Natlangs: Basque * *
Hypothetical/debated Natlangs and Natlang families: Danubian * Europic (obsolete)

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