Muinaisissa

Muinaisissa is a Finnish grammatical form: the inessive plural of the adjective muinainen, meaning ancient. It is used with plural nouns to indicate location in a context of antiquity, such as in time or setting. In practice, muinaisissa describes something belonging to or occurring in ancient times, typically within literary, historical, or folkloric text.

The construction consists of the adjective muinainen in the inessive plural form muinaisissa preceding a plural noun in the same case. Common collocations include muinaisissa tarinoissa (in ancient tales), muinaisissa teksteissä (in ancient texts), and muinaisissa legendoissa (in ancient legends). These phrases are typical in written Finnish that aims to evoke antiquity or mythic atmospheres.

Usage notes:

- Muinaisissa functions as part of a noun phrase and cannot stand alone; it pairs with a plural noun that is in the inessive case.

- It is most frequent in literary, historical, or scholarly writing, but can appear in broader prose to create an antiquated or mythic mood.

- The sense is close to “in ancient …” or “of ancient …” depending on the noun it modifies.

Examples:

- Muinaisissa tarinoissa kerrotaan sankareista. (In ancient tales, heroes are told about.)

- Muinaisissa teksteissä kuvataan muinaisen kaupungin elämää. (In ancient texts, the life of an ancient city is depicted.)

- Muinaisissa legendoissa esiintyy jumalia ja kohtaloita. (In ancient legends, gods and fates appear.)

See also muinainen, muinaisuus.