Syrjivänä

Syrjivänä is a Finnish grammatical form used to describe something that is discriminatory or marginalizing, commonly translated into English as “as discriminatory” or “in a discriminatory way.” It is an adessive form tied to the adjective or participle syrjivä, which derives from the verb syrjiä, meaning to discriminate or marginalize. In Finnish discourse, syrjivänä is used with a noun in the adessive case to express the role or state of discrimination, for example syrjivänä käytäntönä, meaning “as a discriminatory practice.” The term appears in journalism, policy discussions, and academic writing addressing unequal treatment or bias.

Etymology and grammar: syrjivänä is formed from the stem syrji- with the -vä suffix creating a participial adjective sense (discriminating/marginalizing) and the -nä ending indicating the adessive case used for roles or states. It functions as a modifier that identifies how something is perceived or categorized in terms of discrimination.

Usage and nuance: syrjivänä can describe practices, decisions, or attitudes that are seen as discriminatory. It does not inherently convey intent; rather, it signals that the observed effect or behavior is discriminatory. The term is closely related to syrjintä (discrimination), and is often found in phrases such as syrjivänä pidetty käytäntö (“a practice regarded as discriminatory”) or syrjivänä koettu tilanne (“a situation experienced as discriminatory”).

See also: syrjintä, tasa-arvo, oikeudenmukaisuus.