Illatiivisena

Illatiivisena is a grammatical term used in Finnish language studies. It is the essive form of the adjective illatiivinen, meaning that it describes something “as illative” or “in the illative sense.” The word appears primarily in linguistic and grammatical descriptions rather than in everyday speech, where speakers typically use illatiivinen to refer to the illative case itself.

Formation and meaning. Illatiivinen denotes the illative (a case expressing direction toward a place or into a state). To form the essive of this adjective, the suffix -na/-nä is added, yielding illatiivisena. The essive mood or case, in general, expresses a temporary state or role, roughly corresponding to “as” in English (for example, “as a teacher” or “as illative”). In grammar discussions, illatiivisena is used to describe the illative property of a noun or phrase within a sentence or a grammatical analysis.

Usage. The term illatiivisena is used when describing the illative form in abstract terms, such as in grammar textbooks, dictionaries, and linguistic analyses. It helps differentiate the concept of illatiivi (illative case) from other cases and from the general category of adjectives. In ordinary Finnish sentences, speakers would typically simply use the illative form on a noun (such as taloon) rather than refer to it as “illatiivisena.”

Related concepts. Related terms include illatiivi (the illative case itself), essive (-na/-nä, the general essive form used to describe a temporary state or role), and translatiivi (-ksi, used to express becoming or a change of state). Understanding illatiivisena requires some familiarity with Finnish noun cases and adjective inflection.

See also: Finnish grammar, illatiivi, essive case, translatiivi.