-lainen

See also: lainen and -läinen

Finnish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Finnic *-lainen, from a toponymic element -la + -inen. Cognate with Estonian -lane, Veps -laine.

Attested since at least the Bible translation of 1548, which uses it in Mark 7.26 (Grekilainen) and Luke 4.27 (Syrialainen), among other places.

Suffix

-lainen (front vowel harmony variant -läinen)

  1. Combined with a place name, forms the noun for the inhabitant of a place; or an adjective meaning "of or relating to (the place)".
    Viro "Estonia" → virolainen "Estonian" (person and adjective)
    Savosavolainen "Savonian" (person and adjective)
  2. Combined with a name, forms an adjective for a member of an organization or other defined group, a follower of philosophy etc.
    Hegelhegeliläinen
    kokoomus (a political party) → kokoomuslainen
  3. Combined with a common noun, forms nouns for people characterized by this noun.
    eläke (pension)eläkeläinen (pensioner)
    vuokra (rent)vuokralainen (tenant, lessee)
Usage notes
  • Usually appended to the genitive or nominative singular stem.
  • Place names already ending in -la often do not duplicate the suffix, and their adjective forms may be formed with simply -inen (e.g. Karjalakarjalainen, not ˣkarjalalainen).
Declension

Noun:

Inflection of -lainen (Kotus type 38/nainen, no gradation)
nominative -lainen -laiset
genitive -laisen -laisten
-laisien
partitive -laista -laisia
illative -laiseen -laisiin
singular plural
nominative -lainen -laiset
accusative nom. -lainen -laiset
gen. -laisen
genitive -laisen -laisten
-laisien
partitive -laista -laisia
inessive -laisessa -laisissa
elative -laisesta -laisista
illative -laiseen -laisiin
adessive -laisella -laisilla
ablative -laiselta -laisilta
allative -laiselle -laisille
essive -laisena -laisina
translative -laiseksi -laisiksi
instructive -laisin
abessive -laisetta -laisitta
comitative -laisineen

Adjective:

Inflection of -lainen (Kotus type 38/nainen, no gradation)
nominative -lainen -laiset
genitive -laisen -laisten
-laisien
partitive -laista -laisia
illative -laiseen -laisiin
singular plural
nominative -lainen -laiset
accusative nom. -lainen -laiset
gen. -laisen
genitive -laisen -laisten
-laisien
partitive -laista -laisia
inessive -laisessa -laisissa
elative -laisesta -laisista
illative -laiseen -laisiin
adessive -laisella -laisilla
ablative -laiselta -laisilta
allative -laiselle -laisille
essive -laisena -laisina
translative -laiseksi -laisiksi
instructive -laisin
abessive -laisetta -laisitta
comitative -laisine
Derived terms
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:Finnish_words_suffixed_with_-lainen' title='Category:Finnish words suffixed with -lainen'>Finnish words suffixed with -lainen</a>

Etymology 2

From compounds with laji (kind, sort) + -inen. The origin as a separate word can still be seen in the imperfect accommodation to vowel harmony.

Suffix

-lainen

  1. Combined with a pronoun, forms an adjective relating to the kind or nature of a person or an object.
    erierilainen = different
    eräseräänlainen +subst. = kind of a + subst.
    mikäminkälainen or millainen = what kind of?
    samasamanlainen = similar, of the same kind
    sesellainen = such, of that kind
    tämätällainen, tälläinen (colloquial) = of this kind
  2. Combined with the genitive form of an adjective, forms an adjective indicating a smaller degree of the quality than that described by the original adjective.
    heikonlainen = relatively weak
    oikeanlainen = of a right kind (but not the right one)
    viileänlainen = sort of cool
Usage notes

As this suffix is historically a compound, it is not subject to vowel harmony in the standard language; with the exception of the word yhtäläinen, it always has back vowel harmony. In colloquial use it may have a front vowel variant, if not the speaker has not been explicitly taught to avoid that, which proves the rule moot.

Declension
Inflection of -lainen (Kotus type 38/nainen, no gradation)
nominative -lainen -laiset
genitive -laisen -laisten
-laisien
partitive -laista -laisia
illative -laiseen -laisiin
singular plural
nominative -lainen -laiset
accusative nom. -lainen -laiset
gen. -laisen
genitive -laisen -laisten
-laisien
partitive -laista -laisia
inessive -laisessa -laisissa
elative -laisesta -laisista
illative -laiseen -laisiin
adessive -laisella -laisilla
ablative -laiselta -laisilta
allative -laiselle -laisille
essive -laisena -laisina
translative -laiseksi -laisiksi
instructive -laisin
abessive -laisetta -laisitta
comitative -laisine
Derived terms
<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:Finnish_words_suffixed_with_-lainen' title='Category:Finnish words suffixed with -lainen'>Finnish words suffixed with -lainen</a>

Anagrams

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.