Vowel Harmony Exceptions – Vokaaliharmonia

The vowel harmony rules are fairly clear and apply to most Finnish words. However, there are certain groups
of words that do not follow these rules. The confusion is mainly caused by loanwords that have been adopted
into Finnish without being adjusted to follow the vowel harmony rules. In this article, we will look at the
different groups of vowel harmony exceptions.

Table of Contents

1. Meri and veri in the partitive

2. Mixed vowel words
1. Mixed vowels within derivations
2. Mixed vowels within loanwords

3. The inflection of mixed vowel words

1. Kilometri-type words
2. Appelsiini-type words
3. Words with two options
4. Words with a mixed spelling and pronunciation

1. Meri ja veri in the partitive

Meri and veri are two small exceptions, perfect to start this list about vowel harmony exceptions off with!
The singular partitive of these two words will be different from their other inflective forms:

meri (sea): merta, meressä, merellä

 veri (blood): verta, veressä, verestä

I don’t know why these two words behave that way!

2. Mixed vowel words

2.1. Mixed vowels within derivations

There is a fairly large group of Finnish words that will follow the vowel harmony rules in their root form, but
will be an exception when derivated. These words have the neutral vowels E and I in their first syllable,
and in their root form, the second syllable will abide the vowel harmony rule. However, when you derive a
word from them, the rules are broken. For example:

heittää > heitto

siirtää > siirto
kiittää > kiitos
itkeä > itku
kerää– > keruu
lepää– > lepo

2.2. Mixed vowels within loanwords

When words get adopted from other languages, they sometimes retain the vowel sounds of the original
language, despite the fact that they break the vowel harmony rules. In these words A, O and U mix with Ä,
Ö and Y.

ana-lyysi – analysis
hy–a-sintti – hyacinth
o-lym-pialaiset – olympics
pa-py-rus – papyrus
po-lyyp-pi – polyp
sym-metria – symmetry
föö-nata – hair-drying
pas-tö-roida – pasteurize
konduk-töö-ri – conductor

3. The Inflection of Mixed Vowel Words

Words with mixed vowels can be real head-scratchers when you want to inflect them in the Finnish cases or
add a suffix. Often there is no strict rule as to which vowels should be used in the suffixes. Both options can
be allowed, and the way people pronounce the words can differ.

3.1. Kilometri-type words

Loanwords where you can clearly tell that they consist of two words will follow the vowel harmony rules,
and have the suffix use the vowel that is in harmony with the second part of the compound word. When it’s
not as clear, both vowels are usually possible. That’s why kilometri (kilo+metri) will always be kilometrejä,
but hypoteesi can be either hypoteeseja or hypoteesejä.

Nominative Partitive
kilometri kilo-metriä
fotosynteesi foto-synteesiä

3.2. Appelsiini-type words

There is a fairly large amount of loanwords with four syllables or more which often have A, O or U in their
first syllable, and will always get A, O or U when they are inflected (e.g. appelsiini, appelsiineja). This is
true for most words ending in: ‑eeni, ‑beeni, ‑neesi, ‑teetti, ‑letti, -nelli, -mentti, ‑tentti, ‑kiini, -liini, ‑miini, -
riini, -siini, -tiivi, -veri, ‑risti.

Nominative Inflected form

amuletti amuletteja
assistentti assistenteja
krysanteemi krysanteemeja
paralleeli paralleeleja
paraabeli paraabeleja
revolveri revolvereita
mannekiini mannekiineja
trampoliini trampoliineja
vitamiini vitamiineja
appelsiini applesiineja
adjektiivi adjektiiveja
bolsevikki bolsevikkeja
krusifiksi krusifikseja
pyramidi pyramideja
humoristi humoristeja
 sosialisti sosialisteja
reumatismi reumatismia

3.3. Words with two options

Nominative Option #1 Option #2

analyyttinen analyyttista analyyttistä
hieroglyfi hieroglyfeilla hieroglyfeillä
anonyymi anonyymia anonyymiä
parfyymi parfyymista parfyymistä
hypoteesi hypoteesia hypoteesiä

3.4. Words with a mixed spelling and pronunciation

There are words that have retained their original spelling, and in which the vowels can be pronounced in two
ways.

For these, in spoken language, you’re more likely to hear the Finnish pronounciation with the suffix that
follows the vowel harmony rules. For example the word “jet lag” will be pronounced “jet läg”. When adding
the partitive marker, in spoken language, you will hear “jet lägiä“.

In contrast, in writing, it’s more likely for these words to follow vowel harmony based on how the words are
written. For “jet lag” that means “jet lagia“.

Written form Pronunciation Option #1 Option #2

beagle biigle beaglea beagleä
cheerleader chiirliider cheerleaderia cheerleaderiä
jet lag jet läg jet lagia jet lagiä
lady leidi ladya ladyä
management mänägement managementia managementiä
quiche kish quichea quicheä
stuntman stöntmän stuntmania stuntmaniä

Hopefully this article helped you understand what the vowel harmony exceptions in Finnish look like and
when they occur.