Suffixillä

Suffixillä is a Finnish noun form built from the word suffixi (suffix) using the adessive case suffix -llä/-lla. In Finnish grammar, the adessive marks location or means, and suffixillä literally translates as “on/at the suffix” or “with the suffix” depending on the context. As a case form, it serves to illustrate how the locative and instrumental senses are expressed with a single suffix in Finnish.

Usage in Finnish falls into two broad functions. First, as a locative marker, -lla/-llä indicates where something is located or happening, often translated as “on/at.” Examples include pöydällä (on the table), koululla (at the school), or talolla (at the house). Second, it expresses means or instrument, answering “with what?” as in kynällä (with a pen), maalilla (with paint), or kädellä (by hand). The same suffix thereby covers both spatial and instrumental semantics, depending on the verb and noun involved.

Morphology and variation are straightforward but notable. The form -lla/-llä adapts to the stem of the noun, with typical, everyday nouns producing forms like pöydällä and kynällä. The exact spelling can reflect vowel harmony and stem shape, and some nouns may show minor phonological adjustments. In addition, the plural adessive exists (e.g., käsillä for “with hands” or “at the hands of”) but the singular suffixal pattern remains a core feature of suffixillä usage.

Historical note: The adessive suffix -lla/-llä is a long-standing Finnic feature, tracing to Proto-Finnic and retained across Finnish dialects, where it remains central to spatial and instrumental expression.

See also: Finnish grammar, Adessive case, Instrumental meaning in Finnish.