isuusloppuliitteestä

isuusloppuliitteestä refers to a group of noun-forming endings in Finnish that attach at the end of a word to express a quality, state, or characteristic. In linguistics, loppuliite means a suffix that comes at the word end, and the -isuus family (including variants such as -isyys, -llisuus, -vuus, -vyys, etc.) is one of the productive ways Finnish produces abstract nouns from adjectives or base stems.

Function and use

The endings in this group convert descriptive bases into nouns representing a property or condition. They are commonly applied to adjectives, yielding words that denote the inherent quality rather than an action. The result often conveys a general or abstract concept rather than a concrete instance. The exact form of the ending changes with phonology and the morphology of the base, giving variants such as -isuus, -isyys, -llisuus, -vuus, and -vyys.

Examples

Common examples include rehellisyys (honesty) from rehellinen (honest), mukavuus (comfort) from mukava (comfortable), onnettomuus (misfortune) though note that onnettomuus is formed with a different suffix pattern, and onnellisuus (happiness) from onnellinen (happy). Hyvyys (goodness) illustrates the -vyys pattern. These illustrate how the -isuus-family nouns describe qualities or states tied to a base adjective.

Relation to other suffixes

The -isuus-loppuliite is one among several noun-forming endings in Finnish. It often contrasts with -minen (which forms nouns denoting actions or processes) and with other endings like -us/-uus that create concrete or more general nouns. The choice of ending depends on the semantic nuance and phonological fit of the base.

Overview

The -isuus-loppuliite is a productive, widely used mechanism in Finnish morphology for naming properties, qualities, and states, contributing to the language’s rich system of abstract noun formation.