adjektiivikollokkein

Adjektiivikollokaatiot, or adjective collocations, refer to the tendency for certain adjectives to be used together with specific nouns. This is a common phenomenon in language where the combination of an adjective and a noun sounds natural and idiomatic to native speakers. For example, in Finnish, "kova työ" (hard work) is a typical adjective collocation, whereas "tiukka työ" (tight work) would sound unusual. These collocations are not always predictable based on individual word meanings alone and are often learned as fixed phrases.

Understanding adjective collocations is important for language learners as it helps to improve fluency and naturalness of expression. Using the wrong adjective with a noun can lead to awkward or nonsensical phrases. These combinations are not exclusive to Finnish; they exist in all languages. The study of collocations, including adjective collocations, falls under the broader field of lexicology and corpus linguistics, which analyze language use based on large collections of text and speech. The frequent co-occurrence of words in these specific pairings is what defines them as collocations.