Korostusta

Korostusta is the partitive form of the Finnish noun korostus, which means emphasis, stress, or accent. The term is used across several domains, including linguistics, typography, and everyday language, to indicate drawing attention to a particular element. The related verb korostaa means to emphasize or highlight.

In linguistics, korostus describes the features that give prominence to a syllable, word, or phrase. This includes pitch (intonation), duration, and loudness. In Finnish, the basic lexical stress falls on the first syllable of most words, but korostus in discourse is achieved through intonation and contrastive focus, which can alter the perceived meaning or importance of a phrase.

In writing and typography, korostus denotes marking text to stand out. Common methods are boldface, italics, underlining, or color. In editors and word processors, korostaminen is used to emphasize key terms, headings, or warnings. The exact method is often a matter of style guide or medium of presentation.

In rhetoric and education, korostaminen is a deliberate technique to guide audience attention, structure arguments, or highlight conclusions. It can affect comprehension and retention by signaling relevance and the relationships between ideas.

Etymology: korostus derives from korostaa “to emphasize,” with the abstract noun suffix -us. Related terms include korostaminen (emphasizing) and korostuva (emphasizing/being emphasized). See also emphasis (linguistics), typography, highlighting.