agenttisuffixistä

Agenttisuffixistä is a term used in Finnish linguistics to refer to the elative form of the noun agenttisuffixi, a suffix that forms nouns naming the doer of an action from a verb. In Finnish word formation, agent nouns identify the person or agent responsible for a given verb's action. The agent suffixes are productive and appear in a variety of patterns, often with phonological adjustments to fit the stem.

The most common agent suffixes are -ja/-jä, which yield words like kirjoittaja (writer) and opettaja (teacher). Other productive patterns include -taja (valmistaja, maker/manufacturer) and -ilija (kirjailija, author). Additional forms such as -ari/-äri also occur in certain words, producing agent nouns that denote occupations or roles. The choice of suffix depends on the verb stem, phonology, and historical word formation, and is influenced by consonant gradation and vowel harmony.

Semantics and use vary: agent suffixes typically denote the doer of an action and can indicate occupation, role, or participant in a process. Some agent nouns are highly lexicalized and have specialized meanings, while others remain productive and flexible in new word formation. In everyday Finnish, both -ja/-jä and -taja/-ilija patterns are familiar, with -ja/-jä being the most frequent for generic agents.

In linguistic discussion, agenttisuffixistä may occur in analyses that examine how agent nouns are formed and how different suffixes interact with stems. The elative form highlights the topic of the suffix itself or the source being discussed, for example in descriptive or comparative contexts about word formation.