lippua

Lippua is the partitive singular form of the Finnish noun lippu. Lippu has two primary meanings in Finnish: a flag or banner, often used in national or ceremonial contexts, and a ticket or admission pass for travel or events. The form lippua appears as the direct object in sentences where the quantity is indefinite or when the action concerns the object in a non-definite way.

In the flag sense, lippua appears in statements such as Hän kantaa lippua (he carries a flag) or Lippua heilutettiin (the flag was waved). In the ticket sense, lippua is used after verbs like ostaa lippua (to buy a ticket) or käyttää lippua (to use a ticket). The same word therefore functions across different meanings depending on context, with the grammatical form indicating its role in the sentence.

Grammatical notes: lippua is the standard partitive singular form of lippu. Other inflected forms include liput (nominative plural) and lippuja (partitive plural). The base noun in its other cases includes lipun (genitive) and lipun, lipun tai lipput? forms that reflect different syntactic functions.

Etymology and usage: lippu originates from Finnish morphology, where the partitive suffix -a is attached to the stem to form lippua for indefinite or partially affected objects. The word covers a range of everyday and formal contexts, from national symbolism to travel and event access.

See also: Lippu, Vexillology.