Rauma Dialect

Rauma Dialect

Rauma language ("rauman giäl") is a dialect of Finnish spoken in the town of Rauma, western Finland.

The written form of the dialect was preserved by the writer and doctor Hj. Nortamo, and is currently practiced mainly as a hobby. Some of the most distinctive characteristics of the dialect (as written) are the use of letters 'g' and 'b', which are not common in Finnish language. Pronunciation of these letters is, however, closer to the more common 'k' and 'p' of mainstream Finnish.

Rauma dialect is practically extinct from real-life use. Many people in Rauma do speak in a way that carries a resemblance to this dialect - as an example, the tempo of speech is faster than average Finnish, with a lot of shortened words, but few can speak the actual Rauma dialect.

There are several subcategories of Rauma dialect, which have subtle differences and have their roots in neighbouring communities.