Soinnilliset

Soinnilliset is a term used in Finnish linguistics to refer to sounds produced with vocal fold vibration. It describes the voicing feature of phonemes and is the counterpart to soinnittomat, or unvoiced sounds. In practice, soinnilliset covers consonants that are voiced and vowels, which are typically voiced in most contexts. The classification is phonetic, based on the presence or absence of vocal fold vibration during production.

In Finnish phonology, the distinction between voiced and unvoiced sounds interacts with phonological patterns and morphophonemic processes, though it is not as productivity-coded as in some other languages. Finnish also exhibits final devoicing, in which obstruents at the end of syllables or words are realized as voiceless, affecting the surface distribution of soinnilliset sounds. Voicing can also arise or change through assimilation in clusters or in loanwords, where the original voicing of a sound may be preserved or adapted.

The term is mainly used in descriptive and theoretical linguistics rather than everyday speech. It provides a convenient framework for discussing voice-related phenomena such as how sounds acquire voicing in context, how voicing interacts with syllable structure and stress, and how historical sound changes have influenced pronunciation, particularly in words borrowed from other languages.

For learners, understanding soinnilliset helps explain why certain consonants may be heard as voiced in rapid speech or certain environments, even when the orthography does not explicitly indicate voicing.