puolillaan
Finnish edit
Etymology edit
The adessive plural of puoli (puolilla) with a possessive suffix.
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /ˈpuo̯lilːɑːn/, [ˈpuo̞̯lilːɑ̝ːn]
- Rhymes: -uolilːɑːn
- Syllabification(key): puo‧lil‧laan
Adverb edit
puolillaan
- half full, half empty (neutral descriptor of something holding about half of its total capacity)
Inflection edit
| →○ | allative | puolilleen |
|---|---|---|
| ○ | adessive | puolillaan |
| ○→ | ablative | – |
Trivia edit
- puolillaan is a neutral descriptor and doesn't take a stance on whether something is half full or half empty. As a consequence, the idiom Is the glass half empty or half full? doesn't work as well in Finnish.
Further reading edit
- “puolillaan”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03