Sillalla

Sillalla is a Finnish inessive form of the noun silta, meaning a location on the bridge. It is used to express that something is located on or at a bridge, without employing a separate preposition. In Finnish, locative cases are formed with suffixes; sillalla is created by adding the suffix -lla to silta. Because silta ends with a consonant and the suffix begins with l, the result contains a doubled l: sillalla.

Usage and examples help illustrate the meaning. Kävelimme sillalla means “we walked on the bridge.” Auto pysähtyi sillalla translates to “The car stopped on the bridge.” The form answers the question where, in contexts describing a fixed location rather than movement.

When indicating movement toward a bridge, a different form is used: sillalle, the illative of silta meaning “onto the bridge.” For example, menen sillalle means “I am going onto the bridge.” This distinction between inessive sillalla and illative sillalle is a typical feature of Finnish location grammar.

Pronunciation is roughly “SIL-lah-lah,” with the stress on the first syllable and the doubled l resulting from the suffix attachment.

See also: silta, sillalle, illative forms for other locations.

In summary, sillalla is the standard locative form for stating that something is on or at a bridge in Finnish, illustrating how the language marks spatial relationships through noun inflection rather than separate prepositions.