epäs

Epäs is not a standalone word in Finnish; it refers to the initial orthographic sequence that occurs when the negation prefix epä- attaches to a stem beginning with the consonant s. In such formations, many words start with the four-letter sequence epäs-, as in epäsosiaalinen, epäsuora, epäsopiva and epäsäännöllinen. The prefix epä- conveys negation or opposition, similar to English un- or non-. The combination with stems starting with s produces the characteristic epäs- onset, after which the rest of the stem continues normally.

Epäs- occurs specifically when the root begins with s; if the root begins with another consonant, the resulting word will not have epäs- at the start (for example epänormaali, epätodellinen). Orthographically, epä- attaches directly to the stem; there is no mandatory hyphen.

Etymology: The negation prefix epä- is a productive part of Finnish morphology, used to create antonymous or opposite meanings in adjectives, adverbs and some verbs. The epäs- form is simply the stem-initiating outcome when the following word starts with s.

Usage: Most epäs- compounds are adjectives describing properties or statuses. They are common in both everyday language and written Finnish, and some are more formal or technical.

See also: epä- prefix; Finnish morphology; compound words.