kirjallisten

Kirjallisten is an inflected form of the Finnish adjective kirjallinen, meaning literary or bookish. In Finnish grammar, adjectives agree with the noun they modify in number and case. The genitive plural form of kirjallinen is -isten, yielding kirjallisten. This form is used when the adjective describes a plural noun in the genitive case, often indicating belonging to or deriving from literature.

Use and meaning. The word functions primarily to describe elements related to literature, such as literary works, sources, or traditions, when these are expressed in genitive plural. For example, kirjallisten lähteiden mukaan means “according to literary sources,” and kirjallisten teosten kriittinen analyysi means “a critical analysis of literary works.” The construction emphasizes that the referenced items are part of the field of literature rather than everyday or non-fiction domains.

Contexts. Kirjallisten is common in written Finnish, particularly in scholarly, critical, or library-related language. It helps distinguish material or concepts tied to literature from other domains, such as tieteellisten (scientific) or historiallisooppaissa (historical) contexts. Because Finnish adjectives always reflect the case and number of the noun they modify, kirjallisten appears specifically in genitive plural contexts.

Related forms. Other inflected forms of kirjallinen include kirjallisessa (in a literary sense, in the locative), kirjallisen (genitive singular), and kirjalliset (nominative plural). The term is a descriptive, not a proper noun, and does not denote a standalone organization or movement.

In summary, kirjallisten is the genitive plural form of the Finnish adjective for literature, used to attribute or relate something to literature in formal, written Finnish.