epävirallisia

Epävirallisia is a Finnish adjective form meaning informal or unofficial, used to describe things that do not have official status, authorization, or formal procedures. The base form is epävirallinen, and epävirallisia is the plural inflection used with plural nouns in partitive or accusative cases, for example epävirallisia keskusteluja, epävirallisia kokouksia, epävirallisia lähteitä.

Linguistic and grammatical notes: epävirallinen is formed with the prefix epä- meaning not or un- attached to virallinen (official). In Finnish, adjectives agree with the noun they modify in number and case, so epävirallisia appears whenever the object is plural and in a partitive or accusative role. This inflection allows the term to describe a wide range of non-official phenomena, from events and practices to sources and relationships.

Usage and contexts: The term is common in both everyday speech and written Finnish. It is frequently used to contrast with terms like virallinen (official), viralliset (official ones), or virallisesti (officially). Typical contexts include epävirallisia kokouksia (informal meetings), epävirallisia keskusteluja (informal discussions), epävirallisia tietoja or epävirallisia lähteitä (unofficial sources).

Nuance: While not inherently negative, epävirallinen can imply informality, lack of formal authorization, or deviations from standard procedures. The exact connotation depends on context and tone, ranging from neutral to mildly critical.

See also: virallinen, epävirallinen arvoitus. In Finnish usage, the word primarily describes status or mode of conduct rather than legality, and the plural form epävirallisia serves to mark any non-official items described in plural.