Tunnetilan

Tunnetilan is a Finnish term that refers to a person’s current emotional experience—the immediate mood, affect, or emotional state at a given moment. It covers fluctuations in feelings and can range from happiness and calm to anxiety or sadness. The word combines tunte- “feeling” with tila “state” or “condition,” and its plural form tunnetilat denotes multiple emotional states.

In psychology and clinical Finnish, tunnetila is used to describe the present emotional status or affect observed during assessment. It is more about the subjective, momentary experience than about long‑term dispositions. Because Finnish also distinguishes mieliala (mood) and tunnelma (atmosphere or mood of a scene or setting), tunnetila is often understood as the specific, observable emotional state at a particular time, whereas mieliala refers to a more persistent mood and tunnelma to an overall ambiance.

In everyday language, tunnetila is used to express how someone feels at a moment—its tone can be described as cheerful, strained, melancholic, or neutral. The term also appears in discussions of art, literature, and cinema to convey the emotional tone or atmosphere of a work or scene, rather than its factual content.

Translations into English typically render tunnetila as “emotional state” or “affect,” with the exact sense depending on context. Related Finnish terms include tunne (feeling), mieliala (mood), and tunnelma (atmosphere). See also affect, mood, emotion.