Viivästyminä

Viivästyminä is a Finnish grammatical form used in formal writing to denote “as delays” or “in the state of delays.” It is the plural essive form of the noun viivästyminen (delay), formed by adding the plural essive suffix -minä to the stem viivästyminen. The essive case expresses a temporary state or role, so viivästyminä literally means “in the form of delays” or “as delays.”

Etymology and morphology: The base is the noun viivästyminen, meaning delay or lateness. By applying the plural essive suffix -minä, the word becomes viivästyminä, indicating a set of items described by their delayed state rather than by a fixed noun phrase. This construction is most recognizable in bureaucratic or inventory-like lists.

Usage: Viivästyminä is encountered primarily in official documents, status reports, and bulletins where multiple entries are described by their current state. It signals a formal categorization of several items as delays. In everyday Finnish, speakers typically use more common expressions such as viivästyneet or viivästetty to describe delays in ordinary discourse.

Examples: Common usage can appear as a heading or label, for instance “Viivästyminä olevat toimitukset” to indicate shipments that are delayed. In prose, one might see a phrase like “kaikki viivästyminä olevat tilaukset…” to reference orders currently in a delayed state. These forms are grammatically correct but stylistically restricted to more formal or administrative contexts.

See also: Finnish essive case, viivästyminen, Finnish grammar, administrative language.