käsittelevä

Käsittelevä is a Finnish present active participle formed from the verb käsitellä, meaning to handle, to deal with, or to discuss. As a participle, käsittelevä describes an agent performing the action of handling or dealing with something and is used as an adjective or, less commonly, as a noun. Its basic sense is “one who handles” or “dealing with.”

The form is created with the suffix -va/-vä, following vowel harmony rules. The stem käsittele- combines with -vä to yield käsittelevä. Because it is an active participle, käsittelevä typically modifies a noun to indicate that the noun is engaged in handling the referenced matter, for example, käsittelevä viranomainen (an authority that handles the matter) or käsittelevä tutkimus (a study that deals with a topic).

In usage, käsittelevä is most common as an attributive adjective. It can appear in phrases such as käsittelevä ohjelmisto (software that handles data) or käsittelevä tutkimus (a study addressing a topic). Finnish also contrasts active and passive participles: käsittelevä refers to handling by an agent, while käsiteltävä indicates something that is to be processed or handled (to be handled). This distinction helps prevent misinterpretation in formal writing.

Related terms include käsittely (handling, processing), käsittelijä (processor or handler), and käsittelevä, which should not be confused with the past participle käsitelty (handled) or the passive present participle käsiteltävä (to be handled). Overall, käsittelevä functions as a flexible descriptive tool for indicating subjects that actively engage in handling or dealing with matters.