Quantity in Central Standard Swedish and Fenno-Swedish

Abstract

Main findings and conclusions are summarised from a comparison of the durational realisation of quantity in Central Standard Swedish (CSS) and Fenno-Swedish (F-S) based on exactly the same word materials. Both varieties have the same basic quantity pattern, with a complementary durational relationship between the stressed-syllable vowel and the following consonant. But F-S has, in addition, quantity patterns that do not exist in CSS. These patterns are reviewed and the conclusion is drawn that they are similar to some Finnish quantity patterns. Altogether, the results and the review strongly suggest that the F-S quantity patterns have been influenced by Finnish.