adjektiivimääräinen

Adjektiivimääräinen refers to a grammatical construction in Finnish where an adjective modifies another adjective, intensifying or specifying its meaning. This is a relatively uncommon but distinct feature of Finnish grammar. The modifying adjective typically takes the genitive case, and the adjective being modified takes its usual form. For example, in the phrase "erittäin hyvä," "erittäin" (very) is an adverb, not an adjective, modifying "hyvä" (good). However, an adjektiivimääräinen construction would be something like "hyvän hyvää" (literally "of good good"), where the first "hyvän" is the genitive of "hyvä" and modifies the second "hyvää," which is also "hyvä" in a partitive form. This construction implies a superlative or exceptionally high degree of the quality described by the adjective. It can also be used to describe a particular nuance or shade of a color, for instance. The specific meaning can depend on context, but the core idea is one adjective acting as a qualifier for another. This grammatical feature adds a layer of descriptive richness to the Finnish language.