linnuista

Linnuista is a Finnish inflected form of the noun lintu, meaning bird. It represents the elative plural, a grammatical case used to express origin, source, or topic in relation to multiple birds. In Finnish, the elative plural marks origin or movement away from something and can also indicate the subject of discussion or inquiry when the topic concerns the birds as a group.

The elative plural is formed by taking the plural stem linnut and adding the suffix -ista (or -istä, depending on vowel harmony), producing linnuista. This form is commonly found in ecological, ornithological, and general natural language contexts, as well as in everyday speech when talking about birds as a collective.

Examples:

- Linnuista on löydetty tietoa. (Information has been found about the birds.)

- Keskustelu linnuista on vilkasta. (The discussion about the birds is lively.)

Linnuista often appears alongside the genitive plural lintujen (of the birds) and other case forms of lintu, illustrating Finnish’s rich system of noun inflection. The elative plural linnuista should be distinguished from the genitive plural lintujen, which expresses ownership or association rather than origin or topic.