luettavan

Luettavan is a Finnish grammatical form derived from the adjective luettava, which means “to be read” or “readable.” In standard usage, luettava can function as an adjective or as a noun meaning a piece of reading material or a thing to be read. The form luettavan is the genitive singular of luettava when it is used in a noun phrase to indicate that the intended object is to be read.

In practice, luettavan appears mainly inside phrases that describe a reading item. For example, luettavan kirjan kansi means “the cover of the book to be read,” and luettavan materiaalin määrä means “the amount of reading material.” The head noun governs the overall sense, while luettavan signals that the object is designated for reading. The form is most common in written, especially academic or bibliographic, contexts.

Luettavaa is the corresponding partitive form used when luettava is used as a noun meaning “reading material” or when referring to an amount of material to be read, as in Tarvitsen luettavaa, “I need something to read.” The plural form luettavat (nominative) or luettavien (genitive) is used when multiple items are described.

Etymology and morphology: luettava is built from lukea (to read) plus the -ttava suffix, which yields a verbal adjective meaning “to be read” or “readable.” The inflection luettavan follows the regular pattern for adjectives used as nouns in the genitive singular.

In summary, luettavan is a genitive singular inflection of luettava, employed to refer to a specific reading item or category of reading material in noun phrases, rather than as a standalone word.