etäisten

Etäisten is a Finnish grammatical form: it is the genitive plural of the adjective etäinen, which means distant or remote. In use, etäisten occurs to modify a plural noun in the genitive case, shaping phrases that express possession or association with distant things, places, or groups. For example, etäisten maiden kulttuuri means the culture of distant lands, and etäisten ihmisten tarinat means stories of distant people.

The word etäinen derives from the root etä-, meaning far or remote, and is combined with the adjective suffix -inen. Like other Finnish adjectives, etäinen agrees with the noun it modifies in number, case, and definiteness. In the genitive plural, the form becomes etäisten, aligning with the noun it leads (often in genitive plural form such as maiden, ihmisten, saarien, etc.). In practice, etäisten is most commonly found in descriptive or literary contexts, where distance or otherness is a thematic element.

Usage considerations include formality and register. Etäisten tends to appear in written Finnish, including essays, fiction, and journalism, when the author intends to evoke distance, exoticism, or abstraction. It is less typical in casual, everyday speech, where simpler constructions such as etäisiä or kaukaa tulevat would sometimes be preferred.

In summary, etäisten signals a relationship to distant entities through a standard Finnish adjective in genitive plural, enabling concise, nuanced descriptions of far-away subjects.