Latinalaisen

Latinalaisen is the genitive singular form of the Finnish adjective latinalainen, which means "Latin," "of Latin origin," or "Latin American" depending on context. As an inflected adjective, latinalaisen is used to mark possession, relation or origin in noun phrases (for example, "latinalaisen Amerikan maat" — the countries of Latin America). It commonly appears in descriptions of language, script, culture and geography: latinalainen kieli (the Latin language), latinalainen aakkosto (the Latin alphabet), latinalainen musiikki (Latin music), and latinalaisen kulttuurin vaikutus (the influence of Latin culture).

Etymology traces the root latina/Latinus back to Latin, with the Finnish adjectival suffix -lainen that denotes origin or affiliation. The base adjective inflects regularly: nominative singular latinalainen, genitive singular latinalaisen, nominative plural latinalaiset, genitive plural latinalaisten. In compounds and attributive constructions the form latinalaisen commonly precedes the modified noun to indicate belonging or relation.

Because latinalainen covers several related senses, context determines whether it refers specifically to ancient Rome’s language and culture, the Latin-derived (Romance) linguistic tradition, the Latin script, or contemporary Latin America and its peoples. Translations into other languages vary accordingly.