Votian/Consonant Gradation

Consonant gradation
Consonant gradation is a remnant of sound changes, which have occurred in past, but still act as morphophonologic rules in the modern grammar, even though their conditions are difficult to see in the present phonetic structure of words. See the examples below.

Consonant gradation of suffixes
Obstruents are weakened after unstressed syllables.

E.g. for the plural 2. person of imperative the suffixes are:
 * -kā after a stressed syllable e.g. e̮лkā ('Be!').
 * -gā after an unstressed syllable e.g. tširjottagā ('Write!').

Consonant gradation of stems
Obstruents were weakened in the beginning of closed syllables with short vowels.

Plural and singular of the second person imperative are always in opposite grades e.g. :
 * Plural: jättägā < *jättä-ka'a ('Leave (it)!'). The last syllable of the stem (tä) was open.
 * Singular: jätä < *jättä-k (jätäG in Eastern Votic dialect). The last syllable of the stem (täk) was closed by an imperative suffix k.

Singular nominative is usually in a grade opposite to plural nominative e.g.  seppä ('a blacksmith') vs. sepäD ('blacksmiths'),  ammaz ('a tooth') vs. ampāD ('teeth').

=== Possible phonetic changes ===