Eksottisen

Eksottisen is typically considered a nonstandard or misspelled form of the Finnish adjective eksoottinen, which means exotic. In standard Finnish, the adjective eksoottinen describes things that are foreign, unusual, or appealingly unfamiliar. The genitive singular form used before a noun is eksoottisen, as in eksoottisen maiseman meaning “of the exotic landscape.” The spelling eksottisen is generally not accepted in formal or reputable Finnish dictionaries and is encountered mainly as a typographical error or informal variation.

Etymology and meaning: eksoottinen is a native Finnish formation built on the root eksoott- with the common adjective suffix -inen. The word has its lexical roots in the concept of foreignness and rarity. The form eksottisen would arise from misplacing or dropping the double o in the stem eksoottis-, a characteristic segment of the standard word. The correct stem and inflection are eksoottis-, eksoottisen, eksoottista, and so on, depending on case and number.

Usage notes: In contemporary Finnish, eksoottinen is the recognized term, and eksottisen is not typically regarded as correct in edited prose. Writers who encounter eksottisen are usually advised to use eksoottisen. The distinction is largely orthographic rather than semantic, though persistent misspelling can affect perceived credibility in formal writing.

See also: eksoottinen, eksoottisuus, exotisk (Swedish loan), etymology of eksoottinen.