Western dialects

The South-West dialects (lounaismurteet) are spoken in Southwest Finland and Sat
akunta. Their typical feature is abbreviation of word-final vowels, and in many
respects they resemble Estonian. The Tavastian dialects (hmlismurteet) are spoken i
n Tavastia. They are closest to the standard language, but feature some slight v
owel changes, such as the opening of diphthong-final vowels (tie ti, miekka miakk
a, kuolisi kualis). The Southern Ostrobothnian dialects (etelpohjalaiset murteet)
are spoken in Southern Ostrobothnia. Their most notable feature is the pronunci
ation of 'd' as a tapped or even fully trilled /r/. The Middle and North Ostrobo
thnia dialects (keski- ja pohjoispohjalaiset murteet) are spoken in Central and
Northern Ostrobothnia. The Far-Northern dialects (perpohjalaiset murteet) are spo
ken in Lapland. The dialects spoken in the western parts of Lapland are recogniz
able by retention of old 'h' sounds in positions where they have disappeared fro
m other dialects.
One of the Far-Northern dialects, Menkieli, which is spoken on the Swedish side o
f the border, is taught in some Swedish schools as a distinct standardized langu
age. The speakers of Menkieli became politically separated from the other Finns w
hen Finland was annexed to Russia in 1809. The categorization of Menkieli as a se
parate language is controversial among the Finns, who see no linguistic criteria
, only political reasons, for treating Menkieli differently from other dialects o
f Finnish.[citation needed]
The Kven language is spoken in Finnmark and Troms, in Norway. Its speakers are d
escendants of Finnish emigrants to the region in the 18th and 19th centuries. Kv
en is an official minority language in Norway.
Eastern dialects
Main article: East Finnish
The Eastern dialects consist of the widespread Savonian dialects (savolaismurtee
t) spoken in Savo and nearby areas, and the South-Eastern dialects spoken now on
ly in Finnish South Karelia. The South-Eastern dialects (kaakkoismurteet) were p
reviously spoken also on the Karelian Isthmus and in Ingria. The Karelian Isthmu
s was evacuated during World War II and refugees were resettled all over Finland
. Most Ingrian Finns were deported to various interior areas of Soviet Union.
Palatalization, a common feature of Uralic languages, had been lost in the Finni
c branch, but it has been reacquired by most of these languages, including Easte
rn Finnish, but not Western Finnish. In Finnish orthography, this is denoted wit
h a 'j', e.g. vesj [ves ] 'water', cf. standard vesi.
The language spoken in the parts of Karelia that have not historically been unde
r Swedish or Finnish rule is usually called the Karelian language, and it is con
sidered to be more distant from standard Finnish than the Eastern dialects. Whet
her this language of Russian Karelia is a dialect of Finnish or a separate langu
age is a matter of interpretation. However, the term Karelian dialects is often
used colloquially for the Finnish South-Eastern dialects.