2849: Short, Long, and Overlong Consonants Oct 8, 2024

Usually, the distinction between the consonants [b, d, g] and [p, t, k] is one of voicing, which is to say whether the larynx (vocal chords) are engaged or not, but this is not true in Estonian orthography. Estonian, which has both phonemic vowel- and consonant length, uses [b, d, g] for the short consonants, and [p, t, k] for the long, aka geminated consonants. This is only true of those plosives, not other consonants.

Where many languages have merely short and long consonants—or like English, no meaningful difference in length at all—Estonian has 3 categories. In the case of overlong consonants so, the spelling is duplicated, i.e. [pp, tt, kk]. For example,

kabi (‘hoof’) is actually pronounced /kɑpi/ (short). Meanwhile

Kapi (of the wardrobe) /kɑpːi/ (long) in the genitive singular is kappi pronounced /kɑpːːi/ (overlong) in the illative case, meaning “inside the wardrobe”. 

Note that Estonian also has 3 levels of phonemic vowel length, with for instance all single-syllable words having an overlong vowel.