The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Estonian and Finnish pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. See Finnish phonology and Estonian phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of these languages.
IPA
Examples
English approximation
Consonants
d
Finnish lad ot
ad ept
h
h evonen
h orse
j
j oulu
y oyo
k
k ala
sc old
l
l aul u
l ack
lʲ [1]
Estonian only: jäl k
l eep
m
m etsä, on pa
m ocha
n
n en ä
n anny
nʲ [1]
Estonian only: vann
on ion
p
p uu
sp ill
r
r auta
rolled r
s
s inä
s ole
sʲ [1]
Estonian only: vas tik
s uper (some dialects)
t
t ina
st and
tʲ [1]
Estonian only: vatt
at y ou
ʋ
v iha
Between v and w
Stress
ˈ
he vonen
Normally placed on the first syllable.
herne keitto [ˈherˈne.keit.to]
Tule ! [ˈtuˈle]
Both syllables in two-syllable imperatives and two first syllables in some compound words.
IPA
Examples
English approximation
Vowels
ɑ
pouta
Like fa ther, but shorter
ɑː
poutaa
fa ther
æ
pöytä
ca t
æː
päivää
ma d
e
te rve
le t
eː
ee sti
émigré
i
vi ha
ki d
iː
sii ka
see
o
o ksa
cho re
oː
koo staa
so le
ø
pö ytä
No English equivalent; somewhat like bi rd
øː
säröö n
Same as above but longer
ɤ
Estonian only: õ lu
No English equivalent; somewhat like cu p or woo d
ɤː
Estonian only: õõ nsus
Same as above but longer
u
su rma
woo d
uː
suu , ruo an
coo p
y
Finnish kesy
Estonian kü la
No English equivalent; somewhat like cu be
yː
Finnish ryy ppy
Estonian rüü pa
Same as above but longer
Finnish diphthongs
IPA
Examples
English approximation
Diphtong
ɑi
ai ka
ai sle, eye
ɑu
au ra
how
æi
äi ti
mai n in some Australian dialects
æy
täy tyy
no English equivalent
ei
ei , hei
hey day
eu
neu traali
No English equivalent. Spanish and Italian neu tro.
ey
keskey tyä
no English equivalent
ie
kie li (standard pronunciation)
no English equivalent
iu
viu lu
no English equivalent
IPA
Examples
English approximation
iy
siistiy tyä
no English equivalent
oi
koi ttaa, koe ttaa
coi n
ou
ou to
American pronunciation of no , oh
øi
töi tä
No English equivalent. French feui lle.
øy
pöy ristyä
roughly like the British pronunciation of no , oh
ui
mui ta
No English equivalent. Spanish muy , French grenoui lle, Portuguese anui s, Italian lui .
uo
Suo mi (standard pronunciation)
No English equivalent. Spanish cuo ta, Italian quo ta.
yi
syi tä
No English equivalent. French hui t.
yø
yö , työ tä (standard pronunciation)
no English equivalent
Estonian diphthongs
/ɑe/, /ɑi/, /ɑo/, /ɑu/, /æe/, /æi/, /æo/, /æu/, /eɑ/, /ei/, /eo/, /iu/, /oɑ/, /oe/, /oi/, /ou/, /ɤɑ/, /ɤe/, /ɤi/, /ɤo/, /ɤu/, /øɑ/, /øe/, /øi/, /ui/, /yi/.
Notes
^ a b c d In Estonian, the palatalized consonants, /tʲ nʲ sʲ lʲ/ are pronounced like their non-palatalized counterparts, but with constriction of the tongue towards the hard palate, as if pronouncing a simultaneous /j/.
References
Asu, Eva Liina; Teras, Pire (2009), "Estonian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 39 (3): 367–372, doi :10.1017/s002510030999017x
Suomi, Kari; Toivanen, Juhani; Ylitalo, Riikka (2008), Finnish sound structure , ISBN 978-951-42-8983-5
External links