Heittomerkkien

Heittomerkkien, also known as apostrophes in English, are punctuation marks used in Finnish to indicate elision or to mark possessive and other case endings. Their primary function is to show that a letter or letters have been omitted from a word, often for reasons of euphony or to shorten a phrase. For example, in spoken Finnish, "mene pois" (go away) might be shortened to "mee pois," with the heittomerkki replacing the missing 'n'. Similarly, when forming possessives or case endings, the heittomerkki can be used to clarify the original word. For instance, instead of writing "kaupungin omistaja" (the city's owner), one might see "kaupungin omistaja" where the apostrophe signifies the genitive case ending. Another common use is with abbreviations or foreign words that have been incorporated into Finnish, where the heittomerkki helps to distinguish the original form. While sometimes optional for clarity, their correct usage is important for proper written Finnish.