kielellä

Kielellä is the singular adessive form of the Finnish noun kieli, meaning language or tongue. In Finnish grammar, -llä marks a location or context related to language, and kielellä is used especially when indicating the language in which something is spoken, written, or discussed. It appears frequently in compounds and set phrases that specify linguistic context.

Common uses include expressions that signify language in which an action takes place. For example, äidinkielellä refers to doing something in one’s mother tongue, while toisella kielellä denotes doing it in another language. The form is also found in plural for indicating “in many languages” or “in several languages,” as in useilla kielillä.

Grammatically, kielellä is the adessive case of kieli. It functions to situate a linguistic activity in relation to a language, or to indicate the means through which something is expressed. In practice this often means speaking, writing, reading, or understanding something in a specified language.

Etymology and variations: kieli is the base noun meaning language or tongue. The adessive suffix -llä combines with the root to form kielellä, and it participates in numerous compound forms (for example, pääkieli, äidinkielen, toisen kielen lisäksi). Finnish uses a variety of similar -llä forms to indicate language-related context.

See also: kieli, äidinkieli, kielimuoto, monikielisyys.