Isältä

Isältä is a form in Finnish grammar, representing the ablative singular of the noun isä, meaning father. The suffix -ltä marks the ablative case, which is used to indicate source, origin, or the origin of an action or material. In the form isältä, phonological and morphological processes produce the recognizable combination of isä plus -ltä.

Morphology and usage context. In Finnish, nouns decline across cases, and isä follows the regular patterns with the ablative ending -ltä. The resulting form issäältä reflects the stem isä and the ablative suffix. Isältä is commonly used when something comes from the father, when information is obtained from the father, or when the father is the source of a message, item, or influence. It can appear in both literal and figurative senses.

Examples. Sain lahjan isältä. (I received a gift from my father.) Isältä kuulin tarinan, joka jäi mieleeni. (I heard a story from my father that stayed with me.) Tiedon on peräisin isältä. (The information came from the father.) These examples illustrate how isältä marks source without requiring a preposition.

Relation to other forms. Isältä is related to the other case forms of isä, such as isän (genitive), isästä (elative), and isällä (adessive). The ablative form isältä is part of the broader Finnish system of cases that express location, origin, and source without separate prepositions in many situations.

See also. Finnish grammar, Ablative case, isä.