kuuntelijoilla

Kuuntelijoilla is the adessive plural form of the Finnish noun kuuntelija, meaning listener. In Finnish, adessive forms express location or association, so kuuntelijoilla can be translated as “on/with/among the listeners.” In practice, it is commonly used to indicate possession or relevance to the listeners in sentences with the verb olla (to have) or similar constructions, e.g., “Kuuntelijoilla on mahdollisuus vaikuttaa ohjelman sisältöön” (The listeners have the opportunity to influence the program’s content).

Morphology and usage. The base word kuuntelija means “one who listens.” Its nominative plural is kuuntelijat, and the genitive is kuuntelijoiden. The adessive plural form kuuntelijoilla is built from the stem kuuntelijo- plus the adessive plural ending -lla. This form is not a separate lexical item; it is a grammatical inflection used to express a relation to the listeners. The meaning changes with context: it can indicate location (the listeners present), possession (the listeners’ rights), or a group to which a statement applies.

Context and related terms. Kuuntelijoilla is common in media, journalism, and market or audience research when referring to the audience of radio, podcast, or other programs. It is closely related to, but distinct from, kuuntelijat (the listeners) and yleisö (the broader audience). The choice between these terms depends on nuance: kuuntelijat emphasizes individuals as listeners; yleisö emphasizes the public or audience as a group.

Etymology. Kuuntelija originates from kuunnella (to listen) with the agent suffix -ija, forming a noun meaning “a listener.” The adessive form kuuntelijoilla follows standard Finnish case morphology.