The Curious Case of the Missing ‘D’ in Finnish: A Centuries-Old Linguistic Puzzle
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The Finnish language harbors a peculiar quirk – a sound that often goes unspoken.While written as “d,†the letter frequently vanishes in pronunciation, turning “yhdeksän†(nine) into “yheksän†and “koti†(home) into “koin,†“kolin,†or even “korin.†Now, a new research initiative is seeking to map the prevalence of this phenomenon across Finland, and uncover the story behind it.
Yle, in collaboration with the Finnish language department at the University of Eastern Finland, is currently collecting data on how consistently the ‘d’ sound is used in spoken Finnish.The collected data will be available for future research, and Yle and researchers plan to publish the results of the multiple-choice questionnaire by postal code area in their articles and related open datasets. Participants are only asked to provide their answers, age, postal code, and gender.
A Sound Not Originally Finnish
The ‘d’ sound wasn’t always part of the Finnish linguistic landscape.In fact, the ancient Finnish epic, the Kalevala, contains not a single instance of the letter ‘d.’ When Mikael Agricola began writing and printing texts in Finnish in the 16th century, he faced the challenge of representing a sound similar to ‘d’ but weaker, which existed in the spoken language at the time.He opted to write “sade†(rain) as “sadhe,†even though people often pronounced it as “sae,†“sadhe,†or “saje.â€
For a long time, debate raged over how ‘d’ shoudl be represented in written Finnish.This was particularly elaborate by the wide variation in pronunciation across different dialects. Such as, the word “heidän†(their) could be uttered in numerous ways, including “heijän,†“heirän,†“heiän,†“heilän,†or “heiä.â€
A Key Dialectal Feature
The presence or absence of this sound became a crucial marker in the history of the Finnish language. In the mid-19th century, linguists used this feature to divide Finnish dialects into eastern and western groups. “It is indeed a very central dialectal feature,†explains Kaisa Häkkinen, an emeritus professor of Finnish language. “In the west, you generally find ‘l’ or ‘r,’ while in the east, there’s often nothing at all.â€
Manny linguists even believed the ‘d’ sound was so difficult that it was virtually impossible for speakers of eastern Finnish dialects to learn. Ultimately, the debate was settled with the adoption of ‘d’ in the written standard. This meant the sound had to be actively taught to Finnish speakers.
The ‘D’ Was Imposed
The late 19th century saw a rise in access to education in Finland, and with it, a demand for adherence to the written standard. Speaking the vernacular was discouraged in schools. “There is information from the early 20th century that students where even punished for speaking the colloquial language in school,†Häkkinen notes.
Soon, everyone was expected to at least attempt to speak the written language. Teachers essentially forced children to learn the ‘d’ sound. “This is how ‘d’ was forcibly established in the Finnish language.â€
Easier Said Than Done
Häkkinen points out that pronouncing ‘d’ can still be challenging for those unfamiliar with the written standard. This explains why “deodorantti†becomes “teotorantti,†“dynamiitti†becomes “tynamiitti,†and the name “Donald†is easily rendered as “Tolan.†In South Ostrobothnia, the pop star Danny is frequently enough called “Ranny,†and a datsun car becomes a “Ratsun.â€
“‘D’ and ‘r’ are phonetically similar. The articulation position in the mouth is largely the same, even though the tongue vibrates when pronouncing ‘r’,†Häkkinen explains. Similarly, ‘l’ and ‘r’ are closely related, which is why the ‘d’ sound has historically been replaced by ‘l’ in dialects of Häme.
Häkkinen believes that even as dialects converge, the ‘r’ sound will persist in place of ‘d’ in spoken Finnish, as will the tendency to omit the ‘d’ altogether. “They are common enough and have become part of speech.†A video clip shows university students in Lappeenranta discussing the difficulty of pronouncing ‘d’ in words like “deodorantti†or “derivaatta.â€
A recent example of this phenomenon was captured on video, showing a speaker from South Ostrobothnia, Juha Mieto, pronouncing “kaadettiin,†“kaadettu,†and “näiden†in a distinctive way on the television program Puoli seitsemän on January 7, 2020.
The story of the ‘d’ in Finnish is a testament to the complex interplay between written standards, spoken dialects, and the enduring power of linguistic habit.
