leviävimpiin

Leviävimpiin is a Finnish grammatical form used to express “to the most widespread ones.” It is the illative plural form of a superlative adjective derived from the verb levitä, meaning to spread. The construction is used with a plural noun in illative case, indicating movement toward or selection among the items that are most widely distributed. For example, leviävimpiin lajeihin means “to the most widespread species.”

In practice, leviävimpiin appears in descriptive or scientific prose, such as ecology, geography, taxonomy, or epidemiology, where researchers group observations by how widely something occurs. The form is one of several illative plural expressions that Finnish uses to refer to sets of items in a directional sense; the exact form agrees with the head noun in number and case (illative plural).

Usage notes:

- Leviävimpiin typically precedes a plural noun in illative, for example leviävimpiin lajeihin or leviävimpiin alueisiin.

- It tends to appear in formal or specialized texts rather than everyday conversation.

- It shares with other illative forms the function of indicating movement toward or inclusion within a set of items described as the most widespread.

See also:

- Finnish grammar

- Illative case

- Superlatives and adjective inflection in Finnish