Lähdemuoto

Lähdemuoto is a Finnish term that translates to "source form" or "root form" in English. It refers to the basic, uninflected form of a word in the Finnish language. For nouns, the lähdemuoto is the nominative singular. For verbs, it is the infinitive form. This is the form that appears in dictionaries and is considered the dictionary lemma. Understanding the lähdemuoto is crucial for learners of Finnish as it serves as the starting point for conjugating verbs and declining nouns into their various grammatical cases and forms.

In practice, when encountering a Finnish word, identifying its lähdemuoto allows one to determine its grammatical category and how it can be modified. For instance, the noun "talossa" (in the house) has the lähdemuoto "talo" (house). Similarly, the verb "syötiin" (were eaten) has the lähdemuoto "syödä" (to eat). Finnish morphology is highly agglutinative, meaning that suffixes are added to the stem derived from the lähdemuoto to express grammatical functions like case, number, tense, and mood. Therefore, mastering the concept of lähdemuoto is a foundational step in comprehending and using Finnish grammar effectively.