Leviävä

Leviävä is a Finnish adjective formed from the verb levitä, meaning to spread. It is the present active participle, expressed with the suffix -va/-vä, and is used to describe something that spreads or has a spreading, dispersive character. The form follows vowel harmony, and the word can be inflected to agree with the noun it describes (for example, leviävä tulipalo for a singular spreading fire, leviävät tulipalot for plural).

In use, leviävä typically appears in contexts dealing with processes, phenomena, or effects that extend through space or over time. Common sense and journalistic or scientific writing often employ it to convey ongoing, spreading movement, diffusion, or influence. Examples include phrases such as leviävä tulipalo (a spreading fire) or leviävä infektio (a spreading infection). In scientific language, it can describe diffusion-like or propagating phenomena, such as leviävä signaali (a spreading signal) or leviävä ilmiö (a spreading phenomenon).

Regarding form and usage, leviävä is primarily used attributively or predicatively as an adjective. It is less common as a standalone noun; for the act or process of spreading Finnish normally uses levyäminen (leviäminen) or levittäminen, depending on nuance. Levyäminen emphasizes the act of spreading, while leviittäminen often implies dissemination or distribution, sometimes with a sense of deliberate action.

See also: leviäminen, levittäminen.