Tavupainotus

Tavupainotus, literally "syllable stress," is a linguistic term used to describe how emphasis is distributed across syllables within a word. The concept is central to Finnish phonology, where it is commonly discussed as the pattern of syllable prominence that shapes pronunciation, rhythm, and prosody. The term combines tavua (syllable) and painotus (stress).

In standard Finnish, the primary stress is placed on the first syllable of a word. This tavupainotus rule applies in the vast majority of words and inflected forms, helping to produce the language's characteristic even rhythm. Exceptions are relatively rare and usually involve rapid or careful speech, recent loanwords, or certain compound formations where stress can be influenced by emphasis or lexical units.

In linguistic descriptions and teaching materials, tavupainotus is sometimes marked to aid learners, though ordinary written Finnish typically does not indicate stress. Examples: talo (house) TA-lo, kissa (cat) KI-ssa, tavupainotus pronounced TA-vu-pai-no-tus. Related topics include word stress and Finnish phonology.