äänneharmonia

Äänneharmonia, also known as vowel harmony, is a phonological process found in many languages where vowels within a word must belong to a certain class or set. This means that all vowels in a word, or at least within a specific morpheme, tend to share a common characteristic, such as being front or back, rounded or unrounded, or high or low. For example, in Turkish, all vowels in a word are typically either front vowels (like i, e, ö, ü) or back vowels (like ı, a, o, u). When a suffix is added to a word, its vowel will change to match the vowel class of the stem.

This phenomenon is not limited to Turkish and is present in languages from various families, including Finnic languages like Finnish and Estonian, Turkic languages, Mongolic languages, Tungusic languages, Uralic languages, and some Caucasian and African languages. The specific rules and types of harmony can vary significantly between languages. Some languages exhibit front-back harmony, while others have roundedness harmony, where all vowels are either rounded or unrounded. There can also be more complex systems involving multiple features.

Äänneharmonia plays a crucial role in the phonological structure of these languages, influencing word formation and pronunciation. It contributes to the overall sound patterns and can make words easier to pronounce and distinguish. Linguists study äänneharmonia to understand the underlying principles of phonological organization and the evolution of language.