alkupuolen

Alkupulen is the genitive form of the Finnish noun alkupuoli. Alkupuoli is a compound of alku ("beginning") and puol(i) ("half" or "side"), and it refers to the initial part or opening half of something. The form alkupuolen is used when the initial portion is described as belonging to or related to another element, such as a text, a process, or a discussion.

In usage, alkupuolen is a normal grammatical construction rather than a specialized technical term. It appears in everyday Finnish when one wants to indicate possession or association with the opening portion. For example, one might speak of the alkupuolen havainnot (the observations from the opening portion) or the alkupuolen osuus (the share or section of the initial part). The phrase is most common in written descriptions or analyses that reference a beginning segment of a larger whole.

Etymology and relation to other terms: alkupuolen derives from alkupuoli, whose parts are alku ('beginning') and puoli ('half' or 'side'). Related expressions include alkupuoli (the initial half), alkuvaihe (the initial phase), and alun perin (originally), though the latter two have different grammatical or semantic nuances.

See also: alkupuoli, alkuvaihe, alun perin.