First, the basic words and their meanings:
- koira = a dog
- juna = a train
- kissa = a cat
- kala = a fish
- vessa = a bathroom, a toilet
All there words have two syllables and an a in the end. However, the plural partitive is different. MIKSI?
- koira > koiria
- juna > junia
- kissa > kissoja
- kala > kaloja
- vessa > vessoja
The answer is in the first vowel of the word!
If the first vowel is O or U, the ending is IA:
- koira > koiria
- juna > junia
also
- muna (an egg) > munia
- kukka (a flower) > kukkia
- turha (pointless, useless) > turhia
- sota (a war) > sotia
- poika (a boy) > poikia
If the first vowel is A, E or I, the ending is OJA:
- kissa > kissoja
- kala > kaloja
- vessa > vessoja
also
- kana (a chicken) > kanoja
- sana (a word) > sanoja
- hella (a stove) > helloja
- vika (a fault) > vikoja
- sika (a pig) > sikoja
If you have Finnish friends, ask if they know about this. :)
4 comments:
Is this symmetrical with respects to vowel harmony? That is to say, when the word ends in ä, do inital ö and y lead to iä and initial ä to öjä?
No, but I like the way you think.:) In two-syllable words ending with ä, the plural partitive is -iä.
päivä (a day) --> päiviä
ännä (a letter n) --> änniä
yskä (a cough) --> yskiä
pöljä (a silly person --> pöljiä
kesä (a summer) --> kesiä
reikä (a hole) --> reikiä
silmä (an eye) --> silmiä
Poikkeus: suola -> suoloja (ei suolia:)
How about ambulance?
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