Kaaleihin

Kaaleihin is a Finnish word that functions as the illative plural form of the noun kaali, meaning cabbage. The illative case marks direction into something, and in the plural it refers to movement toward or into multiple cabbages or a mass of cabbages. In everyday speech the form is rarely needed, but it appears in grammatical descriptions and written texts.

Formally, kaali is the singular; kaalit is the nominative plural. The illative plural kaaleihin is formed by adding the illative plural suffix -iin to the stem kaali-, with a light phonological adjustment that yields kaaleihin. The corresponding singular illative is kaaliin. The genitive plural is kaalien. These suffixes illustrate how Finnish nouns inflect for number and case.

Usage of kaaleihin is mostly limited to linguistic discussion, dictionaries, or agricultural catalogs that illustrate Finnish case endings. In ordinary conversation, speakers typically use periphrastic expressions such as into the cabbages or into a pile of cabbages rather than the compact illative plural form.

See also: Finnish grammar, Illative case, Noun inflection, Finnish language.

Etymology: kaali originates from older Finnic roots and is related to similar words in neighboring languages; for example, related forms exist in Swedish kål, reflecting shared vocabulary for common vegetables in the Finnic language area.