äänettömistä

äänettömistä is a Finnish word form derived from the adjective äänetön, meaning silent or mute. It is not a standalone noun but a plural inflection used with a plural head noun in certain cases to express relations such as origin, source, or possession within a phrase. In practice, äänettömistä appears as the adjective part of a noun phrase in the elative or similar case, for example in expressions like äänettömistä ihmisistä, meaning “from the silent people” or “of the silent people.”

This form is common in descriptive and literary contexts, where the writer wants to emphasize a group characterized by silence or lack of voice. The construction typically pairs äänettömistä with a plural noun, and the exact meaning depends on the governing case and the noun it modifies. For instance, äänettömistä tarinoista would translate roughly to “from the silent stories” or “of the silent stories,” depending on the sentence.

In linguistic terms, äänettömistä illustrates how Finnish adjectives agree with the noun they modify and take the same case endings as that noun. The arrangement highlights a qualitative attribute (silence) attached to a plural group, framing the group within a particular spatial, relational, or narrative context.

See also: äänetön, Finnish adjective inflection, elatiivi (elative case), Finnish noun–adjective agreement.