elativesijamuodossa

Elativesijamuodossa, or elative case, is a Finnish noun form used to express origin, source, or movement away from a location. It answers questions such as mista? (from where?) and mista valmistettu? (made from what?). The elative is one of the adessive-inessive-illative group of cases that indicate direction or source, and it is also used to indicate materials that something is made from.

Formation and variation: The elative is formed by adding the suffix -sta or -stä to the noun stem. The choice between -sta and -stä follows vowel harmony: -sta after back vowels (a, o, u) and -stä after front vowels (ä, ö, y). Neutral vowels (i, e) can occur in practice with either variant. For plural, the suffix becomes -ista/-istä (for example talot -> taloista). Examples: talo -> talosta (from the house); vesi -> vedestä (from the water); Suomi -> Suomesta (from Finland); kahvi -> kahvista (from coffee); puu -> puusta (from wood).

Uses and meanings: The elative marks origin or departure from a place, such as coming from somewhere or taking something from a source. It also expresses material or component, as in “tuote puusta valmistettu” (a product made from wood) or “tuolissa on puusta.” In sentences about movement, the elative can convey leaving a location, as in “Lähden koulusta” (I am leaving from the school). It is common with verbs of motion, and with expressions indicating origin of a person, object, or substance.

Notes: The elative interacts with other grammatical features like consonant gradation in some stems and with the overall harmony of the word. Irregular or idiomatic expressions may occur, but the basic -sta/-stä pattern covers most common nouns.