fourth syllable, and in various other unpredictable circumstances. When shortened, and are lowered to and , except before . Shortened vowels are denoted here, and in other reference works, with an underdot: ạ, ẹ, ọ, to distinguish them from originally-short vowels. When a long vowel or diphthong occurs in the stressed syllable before the shortened vowel, it becomes half-long/rising. "oldest" (nom. sg.) ~ boarásēpmosa (acc. sg.) "fearless" (nom. sg.) ~ baluhēmiid (acc. pl.) When the consonant preceding the shortened vowel is quantity 3, any lengthened elements are shortened so that it becomes quantity 2. However, the resulting consonant is not necessarily the weak-grade equivalent of that consonant. If the consonant was previously affected by consonant lengthening (below), this process shortens it again. "mother" → "mother pig"; contrast the weak grade in "year" → jahkẹbealli "half-year" Stressed vowel shortening In the Eastern Finnmark dialects, long vowels as well as diphthongs are shortened before a quantity 3 consonant. This is phonemic due to the loss of length in quantity 3 in these dialects. "mother" (nom. sg.) ~ etniid (gen. pl.) "waterfall" (nom. sg.) ~ guikii (ill. sg.) "teaching" (nom. sg.) ~ oahpa (acc. sg.) "guest" (nom. sg.) ~ guossi (acc. sg.) "grandmother" (nom. sg.) ~ áhku (acc. sg.) Outside Eastern Finnmark, long is only shortened before a long preaspirate, not before any other consonants. The shortening of diphthongs remains allophonic due to the preservation of quantity 3 length, but the shortening of long vowels that result from diphthong simplification is phonemic. Stressed vowel lengthening In the Eastern Finnmark dialects, short vowels are lengthened when they occur before a quantity 1 or 2 consonant. Combined with the preceding change, vowel length in stressed syllables becomes conditioned entirely by the following consonant quantity. Moreover, because the coda lengthening in quantity 3 is lost in these dialects, vowel length becomes the only means for distinguishing quantities 3 and 2 in many cases. "lock" (nom. sg.) ~ (acc. sg.) "nail" (nom. sg.) ~ (acc. sg.) "cat" (nom. sg.) ~ (acc. sg.) Lengthening of unstressed short /a/ In the Western Finnmark dialects, a short in a post-stressed syllable is lengthened to if the preceding consonants are quantity 1 or 2, and the preceding syllable contains a short vowel. Compare the Eastern Finnmark pronunciations of these words under "stressed vowel lengthening". "lock" (nom. sg.) ~ (acc. sg.). "nail" (nom. sg.) ~ (acc. sg.) "cloud" (nom. sg.) ~ (acc.