-lainen
Finnish
Etymology
From laji + -inen. The origin as a separate word can still be seen in the imperfect accommodation to vowel harmony.
Suffix
-lainen (front vowel harmony variant -läinen)
- 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)
- Häme -> hämäläinen
- Combined with a name, forms an adjective for a member of an organization or other defined group, a follower of philosophy etc.
- Hegel -> hegeliläinen
- kokoomus (a political party) -> kokoomuslainen
- Combined with a common noun, forms nouns for people characterized by this noun.
- eläke (“pension”) -> eläkeläinen (“pensioner”)
- vuokra (“rent”) -> vuokralainen (“tenant, lessee”)
- Combined with a pronoun (always as the back vowel allomorph), forms an adjective relating to the kind or nature of a person or an object.
- eri -> erilainen = different
- eräs -> eräänlainen +subst. = kind of a + subst.
- mikä -> minkälainen or millainen = what kind of?
- sama -> samanlainen = similar, of the same kind
- se -> sellainen = such, of that kind
- tämä -> tällainen = of this kind
- Combined (always as the back vowel allomorph) with a 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
- Usually appended to the genitive or nominative singular stem. Sometimes a middle vowel is added to facilitate pronunciation (Hegel > hegel + i + läinen).
Declension
Noun:
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Declension of -lainen (type nainen)
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Adjective:
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Declension of -lainen (type nainen)
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