Sananmuodostussäännöt

Sananmuodostussäännöt are the principles and regularities that govern how new words are created in the Finnish language. These rules are a fundamental part of Finnish morphology and allow for the systematic expansion of vocabulary.

The most common method of word formation in Finnish is derivation, which involves adding affixes (prefixes or suffixes) to existing word stems. Suffixes are particularly prolific in Finnish and can change a word's part of speech, meaning, or grammatical function. For example, adding the suffix -nen to an adjective can create a noun, and adding -us/-ys can form abstract nouns. Prefixes are less common but can modify the meaning of a verb, such as adding etu- to indicate a prior action.

Another significant word formation process is compounding, where two or more words are joined together to create a new, longer word with a combined meaning. This is a very productive process in Finnish, leading to words like "rautatie" (railway, from "rauta" iron and "tie" road) or "tietokone" (computer, from "tieto" knowledge and "kone" machine). The first part of the compound typically modifies or specifies the second part.

Less frequent but still present are processes like abbreviation and conversion. Abbreviations can be initialisms or contractions. Conversion, though rare, involves changing a word's grammatical class without adding affixes, often seen in colloquial language. Understanding these sananmuodostussäännöt is crucial for comprehending Finnish word structure and for learners to effectively expand their vocabulary.