Tunnusomainen

Tunnusomainen is a Finnish adjective meaning characteristic, distinctive, or identifying. It describes features that are defining for a thing and help distinguish it from others. In English it is often translated as "characteristic" or "distinctive." The term is commonly used in formal, scientific, and descriptive texts to refer to properties, behaviors, or appearances that are strongly associated with the subject.

Etymology: The word combines tunnus, meaning sign or symbol (or identifier), with the suffix -omainen, which forms adjectives indicating possession of a quality. The construction signals an inherent or typical attribute rather than a temporary condition.

Usage: Tunnusomainen is often used with nouns such as piirre (feature), ominaisuus (property), ilmiö (phenomenon), or näkyvyys (visibility). Common collocations include tunnusomainen piirre and tunnusomainen ominaisuus. It conveys that the feature is not incidental but characteristic of the subject, and it is common in scientific writing, art criticism, and sociology.

Examples:

- Lajin tunnusomainen piirre on kyky sietä äärimmäisiä olosuhteita.

- Kaupungin tunnusomainen piirre on moderni arkkitehtuuri ja runsaasti viheralueita.

- Kielen tunnusomainen piirre on runsas lainasanasto ja sopeutuminen uusiin ilmiöihin.

See also: tunnus, ominaisuus, piirre.