kirkon

Kirkon is the genitive singular form of the Finnish noun kirkko, which means church. It is used to indicate possession or association, for example kirkon ovi (the church's door), kirkon kellot (the church's bells), and kirkon tilat (the church's facilities).

In phrases with a plural possessor, other genitive forms are used. For instance, kirkkojen johtajat means the leaders of the churches, where kirkkojen is the genitive plural of kirkko. The form kirkon therefore generally marks ownership or belonging relative to a single church.

Kirkon can also function as a stem in compound expressions and institutional names within Finnish texts, especially in religious, architectural, and administrative contexts, where possession or attribution to a church is being described.

Etymology and language notes: kirkko is a native Finnish word borrowed from Swedish kyrka, which derives from Old Norse kyrkja. The origin is linked to the Nordic-language family rather than directly to the Latin ecclesia. In Finnish, the genitive singular is formed by adding -n to the stem, as in kirkko → kirkon, while the genitive plural is kirkkojen.

Usage in modern Finnish tends to be straightforward: kirkon is used whenever the church is the possessor of something, and it is not capitalized unless it occurs in a proper name or at the beginning of a sentence. Overall, kirkon functions as a grammatical marker of possession or association with a church within standard Finnish.