Lesson 1 - Alphabet
The Kven alphabet
The Kven language uses the Latin alphabet, just like the English language, with 3 to 5 additional letters (đ, š, å, ä, ö) depending on the dialect.
Pay attention to how each letter is pronounced; letters in red are vowels.
Aa
[aa]
Bb
[bee]
Cc
[see]
Dd
[dee]
Đđ
[đee]
Ee
[ee]
Ff
[äf]
Gg
[gee]
Hh
[hoo]
Ii
[ii]
Jj
[jii]
Kk
[koo]
Ll
[äl]
Mm
[äm]
Nn
[än]
Oo
[oo]
Pp
[pee]
[kuu]
Rr
[är]
Ss
[äs]
Šš
[äš]
(Sj sj)
[äš]
Tt
[tee]
Uu
[uu]
Vv
[vee]
Ww
[tupla-vee]
[kaksosvee]
Xx
[äks]
Yy
[yy]
Zz
[tseta]
Åå
[ruijalainen å]
Ää
[ää]
Öö
[öö]
1. The letter "đ" is optional and can be completely dropped and not pronounced. When it is omitted between two identical vowels, we will add an additional apostrophe.
veđen päälä / ve'en päälä - on the surface of the water
2. The diphthong "š" is used interchangeably with the letter "sj" and is sometimes written with just an "s". However, when written with "s", the pronunciation is NOT aspirated.
internašunaali / internasjunaali (both pronounced in-ter-na-shu-naa-li)
internasunaali (pronounced in-ter-na-su-naa-li)
3. Although not included in the alphabet, there could be an additional diphthong "rs", pronounced either the same as "š" or separately as "r-s". This is influenced by Norwegian pronunciation and is best exemplified in the word "university".
universiteetti (pronounced u-ni-ve-shi-tee-tti or u-ni-ver-si-tee-tti)
4. Sometimes the letter "u" can be replaced by the letter "y". This does not change the meaning of the word but makes the word sound more "Norwegian".
Example: kulttuuri / kylttyyri (pronounced kul-ttuu-ri and kyl-ttyy-ri)