Näytelminä

Näytelminä is a Finnish linguistic construction that functions as a non‑finite noun phrase meaning “as a play” or “in a play‑like manner.” It is formed by combining the noun *näytelmä* (play) with the instrumental case ending –nä, though in everyday usage the form usually appears as part of a larger expression rather than as a strict grammatical case. The construction is often employed in literary and theatrical contexts to describe actions, scenes, or presentations that are delivered in the style or format of a play, or to describe a work that is interpreted or described as a play.

Typical contexts for näytelminä include prose descriptions of stage productions, verbatim transcripts of dialogues that are intended as play scripts, or metaphorical uses such as “The political debate unfolded näytelminä, full of exaggerated characters and dramatic gestures.” While the form is grammatical in the sense that it follows Finnish case‑ending rules, it is generally considered a stylistic device rather than a core part of modern spoken Finnish. Its presence in works of the 20th century, especially by dramatists who played with the boundaries between narrative and stage text, illustrates the fluidity with which Finnish writers have historically translated the performative qualities of plays into the written word.