Suomen kieli (Vokaaliharmonia. Tuleeko ssa vai ssä)

Vokaaliharmonia in Finnish – An Easy Guide

Vokaaliharmonia (vowel harmony) is one of the key features in Finnish grammar. It means that certain vowels in a word dictate which vowels can appear in suffixes or endings attached to that word. This rule helps maintain the natural flow and sound of the language.

How Vokaaliharmonia Works

Finnish vowels are divided into three groups:

1. Front vowels: ä, ö, y
2. Back vowels: a, o, u
3. Neutral vowels: e, i

Vowel Harmony Rules:

1. Front vowels (ä, ö, y) can only appear with other front vowels in the word and its suffixes.

   • Example: hämärä (dim) → hämärässä (in the dim light)

2. Back vowels (a, o, u) can only appear with other back vowels in the word and its suffixes.

   • Example: talo (house) → talossa (in the house)

3. Neutral vowels (e, i) can appear with either front or back vowels but do not influence vowel harmony.

   • Example with front vowels: tyttö (girl) → tytössä (in the girl)
   • Example with back vowels: kissa (cat) → kissassa (in the cat)

Suffixes and Vowel Harmony

When you add suffixes to Finnish words (for example, to show location or possession), the vowels in the suffix must match the vowels in the base word.

• If a word contains front vowels (ä, ö, y), the suffix will use front vowels.
• If a word contains back vowels (a, o, u), the suffix will use back vowels.

Examples:

• Back vowel word: pallo (ball) → pallossa (in the ball)
• Front vowel word: kynä (pen) → kynässä (in the pen)

Notice that pallo takes -ssa while kynä takes -ssä because the first word has back vowels, and the second has front vowels.

Words with Neutral Vowels

When a word contains only neutral vowels (e, i), the vowel harmony depends on any additional vowels in the word:

• Front vowel suffix: if the word has only e and i but also front vowels (ä, ö, y).
• Back vowel suffix: if the word has only e and i but also back vowels (a, o, u).

Examples:

• tie (road) → tiellä (on the road) – neutral vowels i, e take the front vowel suffix.
• talo (house) → talossa (in the house) – neutral vowel i follows the back vowel harmony of a, o.

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Common Suffixes Using Vowel Harmony

• Inessive (where something is):

  • Back vowel: -ssa (e.g., talossa - in the house)
  • Front vowel: -ssä (e.g., kynässä - in the pen)

• Elative (from somewhere):

  • Back vowel: -sta (e.g., talosta - from the house)
  • Front vowel: -stä (e.g., kynästä - from the pen)

• Genitive (possession):

  • Back vowel: -n (e.g., talo → talon - of the house)
  • Front vowel: -n (e.g., kynä → kynän - of the pen)

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Summary of Vowel Harmony in Finnish:

• Words with back vowels (a, o, u) take suffixes with back vowels.
• Words with front vowels (ä, ö, y) take suffixes with front vowels.
• Neutral vowels (e, i) do not affect vowel harmony but follow the dominant vowel type of the word.
  
  

Mina + asun... + ssa / ssä

1. Vaasa ___ = Vaasassa
2. Jyväskylä ___ = Jyväskylässä
3. Kotka ___ = Kotkassa
4. Pori ___ = Porissa
5. Mäntsälä ___ = Mäntsälässä
6. Li ___ = Lissa

See the word contains back vowel or front vowel and based on that put ssa or ssä.