Diskurssilla

Diskurssilla is the adessive singular form of the Finnish noun diskurssi, meaning discourse. It is used to indicate the context, topic, or framework of discussion in a sentence, roughly translating as “on the discourse” or “in the discourse” depending on the context. In Finnish, diskurssi refers to a structured way of talking about a subject that is shared within a community, including norms, assumptions, and relations of power embedded in that talk.

In academic and public language, diskurssilla tends to mark the discursive frame from which statements are made. The expression is common in linguistics, media studies, sociology, and political science when the analyst wants to refer to a particular discourse or the discourse surrounding a topic, rather than to individuals or concrete actions alone. The form helps distinguish between content and its discursive presentation and can function as a locator for context.

Etymology and form: diskurssi is a loanword adopted into Finnish from international academic vocabulary for discourse, and the -lla suffix forms the adessive case. The construction reflects a broader Finnish tendency to encode context and framing into noun phrases, enabling concise references to abstract social phenomena within sentences.

See also: diskurssianalyysi, diskurssikenttä, kielen ja yhteiskunnan tutkimus.