Somatallinen

Somatallinen is a Finnish adjective meaning bodily or relating to the body. It is used to describe physical aspects or processes as opposed to mental or spiritual ones. The term is commonly found in medical, physiological, and psychosocial contexts and functions as a counterpart to terms like psyykkinen (psychological) or henkinen (mental). Etymologically, somatallinen derives from the international term somatic, which in turn comes from Greek soma meaning "body" via Latin and other European languages.

In practice, somatallinen is used to refer to bodily symptoms, sensations, or states. For example, somatallinen kipu denotes bodily pain, while discussions of somatallinen terveys focus on the physical side of health; it is often contrasted with psychological or emotional aspects. In philosophy and cognitive science, the term appears in discussions of embodiment, where bodily experience shapes perception, action, and cognition.

The word remains a specialized, formal term in Finnish. In everyday language, ruumiillinen is more common for describing ordinary bodily things, while somatallinen tends to appear in medical or academic texts. The concept aligns with the broader English "somatic" used in science, medicine, and psychology to distinguish body-related phenomena from mind-related ones.