elinikäiseen

Elinikäiseen is the illative singular form of the Finnish adjective elinikäinen, meaning lifelong or for the duration of a person’s life. In Finnish, the illative case typically expresses direction toward something or a purpose, and with adjectives it is commonly used in phrases that describe intended use or purpose, such as elinikäiseen käyttöön.

Usage and meaning: Elinikäiseen is most often encountered in compound phrases that specify for what something is intended. The most common collocation is elinikäiseen käyttöön, meaning for lifelong use or for use over a lifetime. Other examples include elinikäiseen hoitoon or elinikäiseen tarkoitukseen, depending on the noun it modifies. The form signals that the described item or concept is designed to last or apply for the entire life of a person or organism.

Morphology: Elinikäinen forms like elinikäiseen follow Finnish inflection rules for adjectives in the illative. The base adjective elinikäinen changes to elinikäiseen when combined with a noun in illative case, for example elinikäiseen käyttöön. Other related forms exist in the full paradigm, such as elinikäisen (genitive) or elinikäiseen (illative) for different grammatical roles.

Etymology: The term derives from elinaika or elin- roots meaning life or lifespan, combined with the adjectival ending -inen to create lifelong or life-related meaning. Elinikäiseen is a grammatical form rather than a standalone semantic unit, and its precise interpretation depends on the accompanying noun.

See also: illative case, elinikäinen, lifespan terminology.