Tähdeltä

Tähdeltä is the elative case form of the Finnish noun tähti, meaning a star. In Finnish grammar the elative expresses origin or source, roughly translating to “from a star” in English. The form is used in contexts where something is considered to come from or be derived from a star, rather than indicating location or position.

Morphology and usage notes: The elative suffix -ltä attaches to the stem of tähti to form tähdeltä. In the singular, tähdeltä is used; the plural elative would be tähdiltä, meaning “from stars.” The elative is one of several locative cases that signal origin or starting point, and it is typically found in technical, scientific, or poetic language rather than everyday speech.

Common contexts: Tähdeltä saatu data describes data obtained from a star, such as measurements in astronomy. Tähdeltä tuleva valo refers to light that originates from a star. The construction can appear in research reports, scientific discussions, and literary writing when the source is explicitly a star.

Limitations and alternatives: Finnish often uses tähti in other cases for related meanings. If the intention is to refer to something located on the surface of a star, different phrasing is usually preferred (for example, describing location on a stellar surface rather than origin from a star). The elative should not be confused with other cases that describe direction or destination.

See also: Tähti, Finnish grammar, elatiivi (elative case).