identiteettinä

Identiteettinä is the essive case form of the Finnish noun identiteetti, meaning “as an identity” or “in the capacity of an identity.” It is a grammatical marker used to describe how something or someone is presented in a given context, often indicating a temporary state, role, or situation rather than a permanent attribute.

In Finnish, the essive case is formed by adding the suffix -nä/-nä to the noun stem, yielding identiteettinä from identiteetti. The essive expresses a current or contextual state, as opposed to the translative case (-ksi), which signals a change of state or a new role. Thus identiteettinä denotes how something is regarded or performed in a particular moment or setting.

The usage of identiteettinä appears in linguistic, sociological, and discourse analyses when discussing self-presentation, roles, or identities that are situational rather than fixed. It can attach to common and abstract nouns and is found in both spoken and written Finnish, especially in analytic or descriptive contexts about identity phenomena.

Because the essive marks a contextual state, identiteettinä is often appropriate in discussions about how individuals or groups present themselves, or how an entity is perceived within a specific framework. Its interpretation relies on surrounding text and the overall argument or description being made.

See also: essive case, Finnish grammar, identiteetti.