Lainausmerkki

Lainausmerkki is a punctuation mark used in Finnish to enclose direct speech, quoted text and, in some cases, titles of articles, chapters or other works. The term refers to the pair of marks that indicate the start and end of the quoted material, distinguishing it from the surrounding text. In practice, the marks signal that the words inside belong to someone else's speech or a cited passage.

The most common forms of lainausmerkki are the double quotation marks " ..." and, in some printed Finnish material, the guillemets « ... ». In everyday digital writing, straight quotation marks " are widely used as a practical substitute. For quotes within quotes, Finnish typography typically uses single quotation marks ' ... ' or switches to a different outer style to maintain clarity. Nested quotes follow house style and regional conventions.

Usage guidelines in Finnish text typically apply the quotation marks to mark spoken language or quoted passages, and to enclose titles of minor works such as articles, chapters or poems. When punctuation belongs to the quoted material, it usually stays inside the closing quotation mark. If the sentence structure places the punctuation outside the quote, the punctuation may appear outside the marks according to the style used (for example, Hän sanoi: "Minä tulen." or Hän sanoi: "Minä tulen".

Historically, Finnish quotation practices were influenced by broader European typographic traditions, including Swedish and German conventions. Today, lainausmerkki is part of standard punctuation and keyboard usage in Finnish, with typographic choices varying by publication, medium and language settings.