Learn some common noun suffixes in Finnish
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| Michael: What are some noun suffixes in Finnish? |
| Anni: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At FinnishPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Sasha Lee sees a new word that looks familiar, but she isn't sure about the meaning. She asks her friend, |
| "What does "aavikko" mean?" |
| Sasha Lee: Mitä "aavikko" tarkoittaa? |
| Dialogue |
| Sasha Lee: Mitä "aavikko" tarkoittaa? |
| Noora Nylund: Se tarkoittaa autiomaata. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Sasha Lee: Mitä "aavikko" tarkoittaa? |
| Michael: "What does "aavikko" mean?" |
| Noora Nylund: Se tarkoittaa autiomaata. |
| Michael: "It means desert." |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a stem or root word, which results in the formation of a new word. In English grammar, a suffix is added to a word either for the derivation of a new word or to form an inflection. The same is true in Finnish grammar where a suffix is called |
| Anni: suffiksi |
| Michael: or |
| Anni: pääte |
| Michael: In Finnish, suffixes are used to form nouns, adjectives, and verbs. In this lesson, we'll take a look at some common noun suffixes in Finnish. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue to find out how Finnish noun suffixes work. |
| Do you remember how Sasha Lee says "What does "aavikko" mean?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Päivi as Sasha Lee: Mitä "aavikko" tarkoittaa? |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Noora Nylund says "It means desert?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Päivi as Noora Nylund: Se tarkoittaa autiomaata. |
| Michael: The words |
| Anni: aavikko |
| Michael: and |
| Anni: autiomaa |
| Michael: both mean "desert." In Sasha's question, we encounter the word |
| Anni: aavikko, |
| Michael: which in Finnish means "desert." This word is derived from the adjective |
| Anni: aava |
| Michael: which means "open" or "wide," and particularly refers to a large space or area. We can also observe the suffix |
| Anni: -ikko |
| Michael: attached to the root word, which results in the Finnish word for "desert." The suffix in question is used, for example, to form nouns that describe an open surface that is covered by something in general. And that's exactly what a desert is—a seemingly endless open space covered by sand. However, the same suffix is also used to form a noun that's covered by something that describes the root word. For instance, if we attach the suffix to the word |
| Anni: nurmi |
| Michael: which means "grass," we get |
| Anni: nurmikko |
| Michael: "lawn," an open space covered in grass. If we attach it to the word, |
| Anni: hieta |
| Michael: which means "sand," we get |
| Anni: hietikko |
| Michael: which means "expanse of sand." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you've learned that the Finnish language uses suffixes for the derivation of a new word or to form an inflection. |
| Expansion/Contrast |
| Michael: So far, we have covered one Finnish noun suffix, which is |
| Anni: -ikko |
| Michael: a suffix used to form nouns to describe an open surface that is covered by something in general. Finnish is a language that relies heavily on suffixes. It doesn't rely much on particles like English but modifies root words to convey the details of what is meant to be communicated. Why don't we take a look at more Finnish noun suffixes? Let's start with the suffix |
| Anni: -ma |
| Michael: This suffix is used to form action nouns from verbs, particularly as a result of an action. For instance, we have the word |
| Anni: elämä |
| Michael: which means "life." It is derived from the verb |
| Anni: elää |
| Michael: which means "to live." Another word bearing this suffix is |
| Anni: tapahtuma |
| Michael: which means "event." It is derived from the word, |
| Anni: tapahtua |
| Michael: or "to happen." A similar Finnish suffix that forms nouns from verbs is |
| Anni: -nti |
| Michael: However, this particular suffix forms action nouns only from verbs that end with the letters: |
| Anni: -da or -dä |
| Michael: One example is the word |
| Anni: uinti |
| Michael: or "swimming," which is derived from the verb |
| Anni: uida |
| Michael: which means "to swim." Another example would be |
| Anni: käynti |
| Michael: or "walk," "visit" or "run," which is derived from the verb |
| Anni: käydä |
| Michael: which means "to walk," "to visit," or "to run." Now, here's an interesting noun suffix: |
| Anni: -mo |
| Michael: This noun suffix is used to form nouns from verbs, specifically to indicate where an action takes place. Here's an example: |
| Anni: korjaamo |
| Michael: This word means "repair shop," and is derived from the verb |
| Anni: korjata |
| Michael: meaning "to repair," and conveying the message that |
| Anni: korjaamo |
| Michael: is the place where the action of repairing things is happening. Another example would be the word |
| Anni: leipomo |
| Michael: or "bakery," a word derived from |
| Anni: leipoa |
| Michael: which means "to bake." Next, we have the suffix |
| Anni: -sto |
| Michael: This time, what we have here is a suffix that is used to form collective nouns. A common word bearing this suffix is the word |
| Anni: kirjasto |
| Michael: which means "library." It's derived from the word |
| Anni: kirja, |
| Michael: the Finnish word for "book." Another example is the word |
| Anni: puisto |
| Michael: which means "park," and is from the word |
| Anni: puu |
| Michael: meaning "tree." Another common word using this suffix is |
| Anni: toimisto |
| Michael: which means "office," and is derived from the verb |
| Anni: toimia |
| Michael: meaning "to act" or "to work." |
| Michael: Finally, we have the suffix |
| Anni: -ja |
| Michael: which is used to form agent nouns. For instance, we have the word |
| Anni: katsoja |
| Michael: which means "spectator," and is derived from the verb |
| Anni: katsoa |
| Michael: which means "to watch." |
| Cultural Expansion |
| Michael: Most Finnish noun suffixes are pretty short or are composed of only two to four letters. Some, however, can be lengthy. For instance, there's the noun suffix |
| Anni: -uskoinen |
| Michael: which is also a very specific suffix with limited usage. You see, this suffix is used for forming nouns that describe one's faith. For instance, we have the word |
| Anni: kristinuskoinen |
| Michael: which means "Christian." And then there's the word |
| Anni: islaminuskoinen |
| Michael: which means "Muslim." Interestingly, it's also used to form the word |
| Anni: herkkäuskoinen |
| Michael: or "gullible," an adjective describing someone who's easily persuaded to believe something. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Anni: Hei hei! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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