jäljittelevät

Jäljittelevät is a Finnish verb form that means “they imitate” or “they mimic.” It is the present tense, third-person plural form of the verb jäljitellä, which denotes copying, imitating, or emulating someone or something. The form appears in everyday speech when describing people, characters, or performances that imitate others or imitate established models.

In addition to its verb use, jäljittelevä exists as an adjective meaning imitative or mimetic, used in linguistic, literary, or stylistic contexts to describe techniques, styles, or forms that imitate another source. Related nouns include jäljitteleminen (the act of imitating) and jäljiteltävä (something that can be imitated).

Usage notes:

- Common contexts include descriptions of behavior, performance, or media that imitate a model, for example: “Hahmot jäljittelevät toistensa eleitä” (The characters imitate each other’s gestures).

- In literary or linguistic analysis, jäljittelevä can be used to discuss imitative devices or features that resemble or reproduce the style of another work or language.

Etymology and related terms:

- The root is linked to jäljitellä, meaning to imitate, copy, or replicate, and to the noun jäljitteleminen, the act of imitation.

- Related terms include jäljitettävä (imitable or replicable) and jäljiteltävä työ (an imitational work).

See also:

- jäljitellä

- jäljitteleminen

- jäljiteltävä

- jäljitelmä

Jäljittelevät thus functions as a standard, productive form in Finnish for expressing imitation in the plural present tense, while its derived forms provide ways to discuss imitation more broadly in linguistic and cultural analysis.