Adessiivinen

Adessiivinen is a Finnish grammatical term describing the adessive case, one of the locative cases used to express location and possession. The adessive marks a position on or at a surface or place, and is also used to indicate the possessor in existential clauses with the verb olla (to have).

In practice, adessive forms are created by adding the suffix -lla/-llä to a noun, with vowel harmony guiding the ending. The singular form is typically pöydällä (on the table), koululla (at the school), etc. The plural form is -illa/-illä, as in pöydillä (on the tables). Beyond spatial meaning, the adessive is famously used to express possession: Minulla on kirja (I have a book), Hänellä on koira (He/She has a dog). In these sentences the possessor is in the adessive.

Adessiivinen also appears in constructions that describe location in general, often contrasted with other locative cases such as inessive (inside), allative (to/onto), and elative/ablative forms that indicate movement away from or toward a place. The adessive thus contributes to a broader system of Finnish spatial grammar, helping to specify where something is or who possesses it.

Etymology and terminology: the term adessiivinen is derived from adessiivi, the noun for the adessive case, with the suffix -inen forming an adjective meaning “relating to the adessive.” It is commonly used in linguistic descriptions and Finnish grammar references to label words, phrases, or structures that relate to the adessive function.