etuvokaali

Etuvokaali, in Finnish phonology, refers to a front vowel. It designates vowels articulated with the tongue positioned toward the front of the mouth. In Finnish, vowels are traditionally divided into etuvokaalit (front vowels) and takavokaalit (back vowels). This division underpins vowel harmony, a key principle in Finnish morphology and spelling.

Finnish etuvokaalit are i, e, ä, ö and y. These vowels are produced with a forward tongue position; some are rounded (ö, y) and others unrounded (i, e, ä). The set of back vowels is a, o, u. Finnish has eight vowel phonemes in total: a, e, i, o, u, y, ä, ö.

Vowel harmony in Finnish means suffix vowels tend to match the front/back class of the stem. Words containing front vowels typically take suffixes with front vowels, while words with back vowels take suffixes with back vowels. The concept of etuvokaali is therefore central to understanding pronunciation, spelling, and morphology in Finnish.

Examples of words containing front vowels include yö (night), äiti (mother) and sähkö (electricity). See also takavokaali and vowel harmony.