käskynä

Käskynä is the essive form of the Finnish noun käsky, meaning “in the role of a command” or “as a directive.” It is used to express a temporary state or role, indicating how something or someone is acting or considered during a particular situation. In Finnish, the essive case provides a sense of “as” or “in the capacity of,” and käskynä is the singular form for the noun käsky.

Morphology and use. The essive is formed with the ending -na or -nä in standard Finnish, and for the noun käsky the singular essive is käskynä, while the plural essive is käskyinä. Käskynä is typically found in descriptive clauses or phrases that outline the role or status of the subject at a given moment, similar to English “as a command” or “in the capacity of a directive.” It can function to clarify what function or identity something is taking on in a specific context.

Relation to other forms. Käskynä belongs to the broader set of essive forms in Finnish grammar, which also includes comparisons to other cases such as the nominative, genitive, partitive, and translative. While the essive often conveys a temporary state, it contrasts with the translative, which expresses a change into a new state or role (e.g., “as a teacher” rather than “being a teacher at the moment”).

Etymology and scope. The word käsky means “command” or “order.” Käskynä thus communicates being in the state of performing or functioning as a command or directive. The term is primarily of interest in grammar and linguistic descriptions of Finnish case use.

See also: Finnish grammar, essive case, noun cases.