juoksevuuteen

Juoksevuus, with the illative form juoksevuuteen, is a Finnish linguistic term describing the smoothness and natural flow of language production. It is mainly used to discuss both spoken and written language, focusing on how easily a listener or reader can follow the text or utterance. The illative form juoksevuuteen is used when the concept is presented as a goal, direction, or target of analysis.

Etymology and nuance: Juoksevuus derives from juokseva, literally "running," and is a metaphor for continuous, uninterrupted progression. It is closely related to sujuvuus and soljuvuus, but juoksevuus often emphasizes rhythm and momentum in discourse or prose, whereas sujuvuus signals overall fluency and appropriateness. In practice, juoksevuus highlights ease of processing and listening.

Applications: In linguistics and language teaching, juoksevuus is used to describe the fluency of speech, including pacing, intonation, and natural phrase linking. In writing, it refers to the readability and rhythm of prose. It also appears in discussions of translation, interpretation, and performance where smooth delivery is valued. The concept thus spans both reception and production of language.

Evaluation aspects: Juoksevuuden arviointi is usually qualitative, focusing on coherence, transitions, and rhythm, but researchers may supplement with quantitative measures such as speaking rate, pause distribution, and syntactic variety. The term remains a descriptive ideal rather than a strict metric, varying with genre, audience, and language variety.