Epäyleinen

Epäyleinen is Finnish an adjective meaning “not general” or, depending on context, “particular” or “non-generalizable.” The word is formed with the negative prefix epä- attached to yleinen (general, common). In everyday Finnish the term is relatively infrequent and is usually replaced by more precise expressions such as erityinen (specific), yksittäinen (individual, single), or poikkeuksellinen (exceptional), depending on the intended nuance.

Semantics and usage

The noun phrase epäyleinen describes phenomena, conclusions, rules, or statements that cannot be generalized beyond a narrow set of conditions. It is often used in academic or analytical writing to distinguish between broadly applicable conclusions and those that apply only in limited circumstances. In general speech, speakers may opt for more common descriptors when the nuance does not require emphasis on non-generalizability.

Morphology

As with other Finnish adjectives, epäyleinen inflects for number and case. The positive form is epäyleinen; the genitive is epäyleisen, partitive epäyleistä, inessive epäyleisessä, elative epäyleisestä, and so on, with corresponding forms for plural use.

Examples

- Tämä tulos on epäyleinen, sillä sitä ei voi yleistää koskemaan suurempaa populaatiota.

- Sääntöä voidaan pitää epäyleisenä, koska se pätee vain erityistilanteissa.

See also

yleinen, erityinen, yksittäinen, poikkeuksellinen, yleistettävyys.