Jyrkkään

Jyrkkään is the illative singular form of the Finnish adjective jyrkkä, meaning steep, abrupt, or severe. In Finnish, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in case and number, so jyrkkään appears when the modified noun is in the illative case, signaling movement toward or into something steep or describing a state related to steepness within a clause.

Usage and scope: Jyrkkään primarily occurs in written Finnish, especially in descriptions of terrain, slopes, or abrupt changes in conditions. It is not a separate dictionary headword; it is an inflected variant of the lemma jyrkkä. The exact illative form is used to coordinate with the noun in illative, and the noun’s gender and number influence the surrounding structure.

Examples and note on grammar: In phrases such as jyrkkään rinteeseen or jyrkkään maastoon, the adjective jyrkkä takes the illative form to agree with the illative noun rinne or maasto. The precise form depends on the noun being modified and its case; illative indicates direction toward or into the referenced thing. Finnish adjectives therefore show case harmony with the nouns they describe.

Etymology and relation: The word stems from Finnish root jyrkk-, linked to the concept of steepness or abruptness. It follows regular Finnic inflection patterns for adjectives in attributive usage, producing forms like jyrkkä (base) and jyrkkään (illative).

See also: Finnish grammar, illative case, adjective, jyrkkä.