Yleistermillä

Yleistermillä is the adessive form of the Finnish noun yleistermi, which means a general term or hypernym. The term is used in linguistic and definitional contexts to indicate that a word refers to a broad category rather than a specific instance.

Formation and meaning

Yleistermillä combines yleistermi with the adessive suffix -llä, signaling the instrument or means by which something is described. In usage, it marks that the term in question functions as a general category that encompasses several more specific terms within a given domain. The concept is common in discussions of taxonomy, semantics, and lexicography, where contrasts between general terms and lower-level terms are analyzed.

Usage in examples

In Finnish, one might say that "eläin" is a yleistermillä for many animals, while "koira" and "kissa" are more specific terms within that general category. For instance: "Tässä sanastossa 'eläin' käytetään yleistermillä kuvaamaan kaikkia nelijalkaisia eläimiä." Such usage helps clarify hierarchical relationships between words, distinguishing umbrella terms from subordinate terms.

Relation to related concepts

Yleistermillä is closely related to concepts such as hypernym, hyponym, and taxonomic levels. It is one way to express semantic relationships in dictionaries, glossaries, and linguistic analyses. While preferred terminology can vary by field, yleistermi and its inflected form yleistermillä are standard Finnish terms for describing broad categorical labels.

See also

Hypernym, hyponym, taxonomy, semantic field, dictionary terminology.

References

Linguistic and lexicographic sources on Finnish terminology and semantic relationships provide explanations of general terms and their role in language description.