Savonian Dialects - Features

Features

Although the Savonian dialects are spread over a large geographical area with significant variations, they are rather different from the standard language and are recognized as local dialects. There are large variations between different Savonian dialects, but a few of the most stereotypical features are:

  • Re-development of palatalized consonants from consonant + i, which is denoted by digraphs with a 'j', e.g. /kotʲ/, /moottorʲ/ (standard Finnish , ). In conjunction, the word-final 'i' is not generally added to stems ending in consonant + i. For example, standard ääni is reflected as iän.
  • Some long vowels and diphthongs have shifted with respect to the standard language; thus, where the standard language has a diphthong, Savo may have a long vowel, and vice versa.
    • Stressed (initial-syllable) /ɑː æː/ become opening diphthongs, first /oɑ eæ̯/, and in most varieties further /uɑ iæ̯/. E.g. mua for Standard Finnish maa "land, country, ground", or piä for pää "head".
    • /i/ as the 2nd element of a diphthong lowers to /e/, e.g. laeta for laita "side", söe for söi "ate".
    • /u y/ lower similarly to /o ø/ or they may assimilate completely to produce a long vowel, e.g. kaoppa or kaappa for kauppa "store", täönnä or täännä for täynnä "full".
    • When unstressed, the bisyllabic combination of o/ö/e + a/ä is smoothed to a monosyllabic long vowel. E.g. ruskee for ruskea "brown", kyntöö for kyntöä "plowing (partitive case)". (This change is not specific to Savonian dialects and is found in most forms of Spoken Finnish today.)
  • Word-medial simple consonants are geminated before a short initial syllable. A native Savonian doesn't say he speaks savoa, he says he speaks savvoo.
  • The combined effect of the three features above is referred to as speaking like one with a "crooked chin" (viäräleuka cf. standard vääräleuka). Whereas standard Finnish has a "declarative" rhythm, Savo has an "expressive" rhythm. The different way of producing speech is noticeable even if the speaker speaks perfect standard Finnish.
  • The glottal stop replaces word-final /n/, a trait common to many other Finnish varieties. For example, the genitive case is essentially marked by a glottal stop (e.g. isä' iän vs. isän ääni).
  • All syllable-initial consonants except the last one (which contacts the nucleic vowel) are systematically and completely removed in loans, e.g. traktori as raktorj.
  • An epenthetic vowel is inserted after a medial syllable coda of /l/, /h/ or, in certain cases, /n/, e.g. vanaha. This vowel is identical in quality to the preceding vowel. The resulting medial consonant is exempt from gemination.
  • Loi plural, e.g. risti - ristilöitä (standard: ristejä)

It is also a particularly creative variety of Finnish. Although standard and known elsewhere, the usage of verb compounds is particularly prevalent in Savo Finnish and a prolific source of creative expressions. The first verb is in the infinitive and indicates the action, and the second verb is declined and indicates the manner. For example, seistä toljotat "you stand there gawking" consists of words meaning "to-stand you-gawk".

Read more about this topic:  Savonian Dialects

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