Lausetyypin

Lausetyypin is a term used in Finnish grammar to describe the category or type of a clause, reflecting the illocutionary force of the utterance. It encapsulates whether a clause is making a statement, asking a question, giving a command, or expressing strong emotion. The concept is central in describing how Finnish speakers convey information, ask for information, request actions, or express reactions within discourse.

The main lausetyypit are deklaratiiviset (väitelauseet), interrogatiiviset (kysymyslauseet), käskylauseet and huudahduselauseet. Väitelauseet state information or beliefs, as in Mikko lukee kirjaa (Mikko is reading a book). Kysymyslauseet pose questions and can be formed with question words such as kuka, mitä, miksi, or with a question particle like -ko/-kö attached to the verb, for example Onko sade täällä? or Kuka osti leivän? Käskylauseet express commands or requests, such as Auta minua. Huudahduselauseet convey strong emotions or exclamations, often marked by exclamation marks or exclamatory particles like Voi!

Finnish question forms rely on word order, interrogative words, and, in many cases, the use of the particle -ko/-kö. Yes-no questions may rely on rising intonation or the particle -ko/-kö attached to the verb; there is typically no subject-auxiliary inversion as in some other languages. Imperatives use verb forms that lack explicit subject pronouns, while exclamatives adjust prosody and punctuation to express emphasis.

In usage, lausetyypin guides syntactic analysis, teaching of Finnish, and prosody in spoken language. It also aids in computer processing of Finnish text, where clauses are categorized for parsing and understanding. See also Finnish grammar, clause, and sentence types.