Isännän

Isännän is the genitive singular form of the Finnish noun isäntä, meaning host, master of a household, or landlord. It is used to indicate possession in noun phrases, for example isännän talo (“the host’s/landlord’s house”) and isännän keittiö (“the host’s kitchen”). In such phrases, isännän marks the possessor, while the noun that follows remains in its base or inflected form according to the sentence, such as talo in its nominative form or talossa in the inessive case (“in the host’s house”).

Isäntä traditionally refers to the person who hosts guests or manages a household, and in historical contexts could also denote the owner or master of a farm. The genitive form isännän is a standard way to express ownership or association with the host in Finnish.

Similar or related terms include emäntä, the female counterpart meaning hostess or landlady, and isännöinti, the planning or management of property and households. The phrase isännän talo can be contrasted with isäntäväki, which refers to the household staff or people living under the host’s authority in some contexts.

Notes on usage and form: isännän is not a proper noun; it is a grammatical form of isäntä. It does not typically function as a surname in standard Finnish, and capital letters are only used when starting a sentence or in titles. The term remains common in everyday Finnish as well as in literature and historical texts when describing ownership or affiliation to a host or household master.