selvä

See also: selva

Finnish

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *selvä. Related to Ingrian selvä, Karelian selvä and Votic selve.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈselʋæ/, [ˈs̠e̞lʋæ]
• Rhymes: -elʋæ
• Syllabification^(key): sel‧vä

Adjective

selvä (comparative selvempi, superlative selvin)

1. clear (primarily of abstract concepts; see usage notes)
2. free (unobstructed)
3. sober (not under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicating substances)
4. distinct
5. plain
6. obvious
7. unmistakable
8. lucid
9. evident

Usage notes

The words selvä and selkeä are partly synonymous, but there are some distinctive senses as well. A good article (in Finnish) can be found on the issue on the Kotus website. To sum up, selkeä is used of things which have an observable structure, e.g. selkeä taivas (“clear sky”) whereas selvä is generally used in abstract contexts, e.g. tehdä selväksi (“to make clear”). There is a wide overlapping area, e.g. a thought may be both selkeä and selvä. Sometimes the difference is a matter of convention, e.g. reitti on selvä means that a route is clear of obstacles and reitti on selkeä means that the route is easy to grasp because it is straightforward or well marked.

Declension

Inflection of selvä (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation)
nominative		selvä	selvät
genitive		selvän	selvien
partitive		selvää	selviä
illative		selvään	selviin
		singular	plural
nominative		selvä	selvät
accusative	nom.	selvä	selvät
	gen.	selvän
genitive		selvän	selvien selväinrare
partitive		selvää	selviä
inessive		selvässä	selvissä
elative		selvästä	selvistä
illative		selvään	selviin
adessive		selvällä	selvillä
ablative		selvältä	selviltä
allative		selvälle	selville
essive		selvänä	selvinä
translative		selväksi	selviksi
instructive		—	selvin
abessive		selvättä	selvittä
comitative		—	selvine

Possessive forms of selvä (type koira)
Rare. Only used with substantive adjectives.
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	selväni	selvämme
2nd person	selväsi	selvänne
3rd person	selvänsä

Synonyms

• (sober): raitis
• (evident): ilmeinen, kiistaton
• selkeä (see usage notes)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• adverbs: selvästi
• nouns: selvyys
• ottaa selvää = to find out, determine
• saada selville = to find out, get to know, learn, unearth, uncover
• verbs: selvitä

Interjection

selvä!

1. all right (used to affirm, indicate agreement, or consent).

   Selvä, mennäänpä sitten.

   All right, let's go then.

2. (radio) roger!

Anagrams

• sävel