Kielenä

Kielenä is the essive singular form of the Finnish noun kieli, meaning language. In Finnish grammar, the essive case marks a temporary state or role, often translated into English as "as a ..." or "in the capacity of ...". Therefore kielenä is used to describe something as a particular language in a given context.

In practice, kielenä is commonly used when a language is identified as the function or medium of communication in a specific situation. For example, in educational or official texts: "Tämän kurssin kielenä on englanti." which means "The language of this course is English." The form can also occur in descriptions of policy, instruction, or translation when the language in use is being stated.

Morphology and related forms: the essive singular of kieli is kielenä, and the plural form is kielinä. The essive forms are part of a broader system in Finnish grammar that marks temporary states or roles for nouns, distinct from other cases used to indicate origin, destination, or manner. While kielenä is most often seen with the names of languages, the essive can attach to other nouns to express "in the role of" or "as."

See also: Finnish grammar, essive case, noun cases in Finnish, translative case, language in policy and education.