Korostusmerkkejä

Korostusmerkkejä, or diacritics, are marks added to letters to alter their pronunciation, meaning, or to distinguish them from other words. They are used in many languages, including Finnish, to convey specific phonetic information.

In Finnish, the most common korostusmerkki is the umlaut (kaksi pistettä), which appears above vowels such as ä and ö. These represent distinct vowel sounds from a and o. For example, the word "talo" (house) has a different vowel sound than "tälö" (a less common, dialectal form sometimes referring to a small hut or a specific type of dwelling, though "talo" is the standard word). Another example is the difference between "kaikki" (all) and "käykki" (a dialectal or archaic form related to movement).

Diacritics are crucial for correct pronunciation and understanding in languages that employ them. Without these marks, the intended meaning and sound of words can be significantly altered, potentially leading to miscommunication. Their use is a fundamental aspect of the orthography of many languages, contributing to linguistic precision and clarity. The system of diacritics varies widely across different languages and writing systems.