[3] There are a number of noticeable traits common to most Finno-Samic languages, however none of them unquestionably in favor of a family unity.

Also, even if gradation in Finnic and Samic is connected, it is disputed whether this represents common inheritance or later contact influence.

[3] The contrastive presence of rounded vowels beyond the first syllable, atypical of Uralic languages in general, is also found in both Finnic and Samic (and again also Samoyedic).

This too has been argued to represent later contact influence, on the basis of comparisons such as F. *enoj : S. *eanoj "maternal uncle", where the exclusively Finnic development *aj > *oj appears to have been loaned into Samic.

[3] The loss of initial *w before a short rounded vowel has also been proposed as a common innovation, but with counterexamples such as Estonian võtta- "to take" (with *w preserved as its regular reflex /ʋ/ due to the development *o > /ɤ/) suggesting a date postdating not only the split between Finnic and Samic, but also of northern and southern Finnic (cf.