Väliviivat

Väliviivat, also known as hyphens in English, are punctuation marks used to connect words or parts of words. They are typically shorter than en dashes and em dashes. In Finnish, väliviivat serve several grammatical and semantic purposes.

One common use is to create compound words, particularly when the second part of the compound is a proper noun or when a clearer distinction is desired. For example, "sähköposti-osoite" (email address) uses a väliviiva to separate the two parts. Another instance is in the formation of names of days of the week when referring to a range, such as "maanantaista perjantaihin" (from Monday to Friday).

Väliviivat are also employed in breaking words at the end of a line to facilitate readability in printed text. This hyphenation is governed by specific rules to ensure that the split occurs at natural junctures within a word. Furthermore, they can be used to indicate an ongoing process or a relationship between two entities, similar to an "and" or "to" in English, though this usage is less frequent than in some other languages. The correct application of väliviivat is crucial for clear and accurate written communication in Finnish.