Profiilist

Profiilist is a term that appears in some discussions of Finnish language as a nonstandard inflected form of the noun profiili (profile). In standard Finnish, the elative case meaning “from” is formed with the suffix -sta/-stä, and for the word profiili the correct elative form is profiilista. Therefore, profiilist is not part of standard Finnish grammar and is generally considered an erroneous form.

Origin and analysis

The form profiilist is not derived from an official rule of Finnish morphology. It is sometimes observed in informal writing or online text, where writers may substitute or confuse the suffix -ist, a pattern familiar from other languages or from English, with Finnish case endings. Such occurrences are typically brought up in language guides as examples of common spelling and case errors rather than as legitimate forms.

Usage

In formal writing and standard Finnish, profiilista should be used to mean “from the profile.” If a reader encounters profiilist, it is usually appropriate to reinterpret it as a misspelling and correct it to profiilista. Language resources may mention profiilist as an example of nonstandard usage and explain the correct elative formation for profiili.

See also

Finnish grammar, elative case, profiili.