If you recall, we discussed concepts of stem using the word "box" as an example in Lesson 5. From this lesson on, we will talk about how a stem is extracted from one word, and what sounds we need to alternate. In Kven, some consonants can change when they are in different cases. In order to find out in which case they sound different, we need to learn consonant gradation (graadivaihettelu). Ideas and concepts behind this are far more complicated, thus I will use several infographics to illustrate. So far, the most comprehensive guide on Kven’s consonant gradation is written by linguist Eira Söderholm in her book Kainun kielen grammatikki. However, the book may be too difficult/linguistic for beginners, as Söderholm put every gradation, including gradations for verbs, in the same table.
Without further ado, let’s begin!
As we see in this chart, we always start from "Grade
0", so we first need to look vertically. This column is the basic form of
every word, a.k.a, the nominative case.
A consonant (a single chess piece) is called "Weak grade". Weak grade is usually a reduction form of strong grade, and weak grade can sometimes have a completely different consonant than strong grade, i.e. aika -> aijat.
Double consonant (two chess pieces) is called "Strong grade".
The idea
behind these infographics is just a concept of strong and weak grade. In most
cases, double consonants are considered strong. However, there are many exceptions,
especially those found in Type B, please refer to the chart below.
There are three grades:
–1: Always
weak.
0: Can either be strong or weak, depending on
the type.
+1: Always strong.
There are three types:
Type A: Grade 0 and Grade +1 is the same, while Grade –1 involves a reduction.
Type B: Grade –1, Grade 0, and Grade +1 all have
different consonants.
Type C: Grade –1 and Grade 0 is the same, while Grade
+1 involves an increase.
Keep the above information in mind because we will use that later.
Words ending
In order to find out which word belongs to which type; we need to look at the ending of each word. In Kven, words can be divided into these two groups: Words ending in a vowel and words ending in a consonant. This chapter involves only words ending in a vowel.
These charts will come in handy no matter what your Kven level is at, and they can be used as indexes as well. For beginners, try to relate to sound changes and familiarize yourself with them.
Words ending in a vowel (a, ä,
i, o, u,
ö, y, e) – Type A
Chart 1. Nominative (grade
0) is strong
|
Strong: |
Weak: |
|
nominative
sg., partitive sg., illative sg., essive sg.
genitive
pl., partitive pl., illative pl., essive pl., and comitative
|
genitive
sg., inessive sg., elative sg., allative sg., adessive sg., ablative sg.,
translative sg., abessive sg.
nominative
pl., inessive pl., elative pl., allative pl., adessive pl., ablative pl.,
translative pl., and abessive pl. |
|
Gradation |
Nominative singular |
Nominative plural |
|
kk : k |
akka (strong/0) |
akat (weak/–1) |
|
nkk : nk |
vankka (strong/0) |
vankat (weak/–1) |
|
rkk : rk |
tarkka (strong/0) |
tarkat (weak/–1) |
|
lkk : lk |
pulkka (strong/0) |
pulkat (weak/–1) |
|
k : Ø |
koko (strong/0) |
koot (weak/–1) |
|
hk : h |
pahka (strong/0) |
pahat (weak/–1) |
|
tt : t |
katto (strong/0) |
katot (weak/–1) |
|
rtt : rt |
kartta (strong/0) |
kartat (weak/–1) |
|
ht : hđ |
lehti (strong/0) |
lehđet (weak/–1) |
|
pp : p |
leppä (strong/0) |
lepät (weak/–1) |
|
rpp : rp |
korppi (strong/0) |
korpit (weak/–1) |
|
lpp : lp |
helppo (strong/0) |
helpot (weak/–1) |
*Green letters are case endings; they are just examples of how they are attached to the stem. In other word, parts before the green letter are weak stems.
Sample
conjugation - katto (roof):
|
Case |
Singular |
Plural |
|
Nominative |
katto |
katot |
|
Genitive |
katon |
kattoin |
|
Partitive |
kattoo |
kattoi |
|
Inessive |
katossa |
katoissa |
|
Illative |
katthoon |
katthoin |
|
Elative |
katosta |
katoista |
|
Adessive |
katola |
katoila |
|
Abessive |
katotta |
katoitta |
|
Allative |
katole |
katoile |
|
Ablative |
katolta |
katoilta |
|
Essive |
kattona |
kattoina |
|
Translative |
katoksi |
katoiksi |
|
Comitative |
|
kattoine |
Words ending in a vowel (a, ä,
i, o, u,
ö, y, e) – Type B
Chart 2. Nominative (grade
0) can be either strong or weak.
|
–1 |
0 |
+1 |
|
all other
cases |
nominative
sg., illative sg., essive sg., illative pl., essive pl., and comitative |
partitive
sg. and genitive pl., and partitive pl. |
|
Gradation |
Nominative plural |
Nominative
singular |
Partitive singular |
|
uvu : uku : ukku yvy : yky : ykky |
suvut (weak/–1) pryvyt (weak/–1) |
suku (weak
/0) pryky (weak
/0) |
sukkuu (strong/+1) prykkyy (strong/+1) |
|
v : k : kk |
jovet (weak/–1) |
joki (weak/0) |
jokkee (strong/+1) |
|
j: k : kk |
aijat (weak/–1) lajit (weak/–1) |
aika (weak/0) laki (weak
/0) |
aikkaa (strong/+1) lakkii (strong/+1) |
|
ng : nk : nkk |
auringot (weak/–1) |
aurinko (weak/0) |
aurinkkoo (strong/+1) |
|
r : rk : rkk |
märät (weak/–1) |
märkä (strong/0) |
märkkää (strong/+1) |
|
rj : rk : rkk |
järjet (weak/–1) |
järki (weak/0) |
järkkee (strong/+1) |
|
đ : t : tt |
pađot (weak/–1) |
pato (weak/0) |
pattoo (strong/+1) |
|
nn : nt : ntt |
rannat (weak/–1) |
ranta (strong/0) |
ranttaa (strong/+1) |
|
rr : rt : rtt |
parrat (weak/–1) |
parta (strong/0) |
parttaa (strong/+1) |
|
ll : lt : ltt |
illat (weak/–1) |
ilta (strong/0) |
ilttaa (strong/+1) |
|
lje : lki : lkke |
jäljet (weak/–1) teljet (weak/–1) |
jälki (strong/0) telki (strong/0) |
jälkkee (strong/+1) telkkee (strong/+1) |
|
lja : lka : lkka |
oljat (weak/–1) |
olka (strong/0) |
olkkaa (strong/+1) |
|
v : p : pp |
avut (weak/–1) |
apu (weak/0) |
appuu (strong/+1) |
|
mm : mp : mpp |
kummat (weak/–1) |
kumpi (strong/0) |
kumppaa (strong/+1) |
|
rv : rp : rpp |
turvat (weak/–1) |
turpa (strong/0) |
turppaa (strong/+1) |
|
lv : lp : lpp |
halvat (weak/–1) |
halpa (strong/0) |
halppaa (strong/+1) |
*Green letters are case endings; they are just examples of how they are attached to the stem. In other word, parts before the green letter are the weak/strong stems.
Sample conjugation - puku (dress):
|
Case |
Singular |
Plural |
|
Nominative |
puku |
puvut |
|
Genitive |
puvun |
pukkuin |
|
Partitive |
pukkuu |
pukkui |
|
Inessive |
puvussa |
puvuissa |
|
Illative |
pukhuun |
pukhuin |
|
Elative |
puvusta |
puvuista |
|
Adessive |
puvula |
puvuila |
|
Abessive |
puvutta |
puvuitta |
|
Allative |
puvule |
puvuile |
|
Ablative |
puvulta |
puvuilta |
|
Essive |
pukuna |
pukuina |
|
Translative |
puvuksi |
puvuiksi |
|
Comitative |
|
pukuine |
Words ending in a vowel (a, ä,
i, o, u,
ö, y, e) – Type C
Chart 3. Nominative (grade
0) is weak. (This is a group with a very small number of words)
|
Strong: |
Weak: |
|
partitive
sg. |
all other
cases |
|
Gradation |
Nominative singular |
Partitive singular |
|
s : ss |
kiusa (weak/0) kasa (weak/0) |
kiussaa (strong/+1) kassaa (strong/+1) |
*Green letters are case endings; they are just examples of how they are attached to the stem. In other word, parts before the green letter are strong stems.
Chart 4. Nominative (grade
0) is weak.
|
Strong: |
Weak: |
|
partitive
sg., partitive pl., and genitive pl. |
all other
cases |
|
Gradation |
Nominative singular |
Partitive singular |
|
h : hh |
liha (weak/0) raha (weak/0) |
lihhaa (strong/+1) rahhaa (strong/+1) |
|
j : jj |
raja (weak/0) hija (weak/0) kaja (weak/0) |
rajjaa (strong/+1) hijjaa (strong/+1) kajjaa (strong/+1) |
|
l : ll |
kala (weak/0) ala (weak/0) |
kallaa (strong/+1) allaa (strong/+1) |
|
m : mm |
ruma (weak/0) |
rummaa (strong/+1) |
|
n : nn |
sana (weak/0) kana (weak/0) juna (weak/0) muna (weak/0) |
sannaa (strong/+1) kannaa (strong/+1) junnaa (strong/+1) munnaa (strong/+1) |
|
r : rr |
piru (weak/0) kuru (weak/0) naru (weak/0) suru (weak/0) pora (weak/0) vara (weak/0) |
pirruu (strong/+1) kurruu (strong/+1) narruu (strong/+1) surruu (strong/+1) porraa (strong/+1) varraa (strong/+1) |
|
s : ss |
trasu (weak/0) nousu (weak/0) tylsä (weak/0) kesä (weak/0) löysä (weak/0) pesä (weak/0) |
trassuu (strong/+1) noussuu (strong/+1) tylssää (strong/+1) kessää (strong/+1) löyssää (strong/+1) pessää (strong/+1) |
|
v : vv |
hyvä (weak/0) päivä (weak/0) hiiva (weak/0) kuva (weak/0) ovi (weak/0) |
hyvvää (strong/+1) päivvää (strong/+1) hiivvaa (strong/+1) kuvvaa (strong/+1) ovvee (strong/+1) |
*Green
letters are case endings; they are just examples of how they are attached to
the stem. In other word, parts before the green letter are strong stems.
*All
gradations for Chart 4. are situational. The list itself already
contains some common words that are possible for these alternations.
Exceptions
1.
Consonant gradation only occurs at the end of the last syllable of the stem.
No gradation: ope • ttaa
• ja – opettaajan (genitive sg.)
With gradation: ko • mmen • tti – kommentin (genitive sg.)
2. Some archaic words are not affected by
consonant gradation because they are considered dialectal forms of Finnish.
mettä (in Finnish:
metsä, meaning 'forest')
veitti (in Finnish: veitsi, meaning 'knife')