määrdefilmi

Määrdefilmi is a term used in linguistic discussions to denote a definite-form marker on nouns within certain Finnic languages, particularly in studies of Estonian and its historical dialects. The concept refers to a suffixal or clitic element that marks the noun as definite, signaling that the referent is identifiable to both speaker and listener. In languages that lack a grammatical definite article, researchers sometimes describe portions of the determiner system as having "definite forms" or "definite suffixes"—termed määrdefilmi in some comparative works. The form may co-occur with case endings and number markings and is typically triggered by givenness, discourse topic, or uniqueness, rather than by syntactic position alone.

In typology, määrdefilmi is analyzed as part of a broader determiner strategy rather than a standalone article. It is usually discussed in historical linguistics or dialectology contexts, where the existence and distribution of definite markers vary by dialect and period. Some scholars treat such markers as remnants of older definiteness systems or as functional equivalents to definite articles in languages that lack them.

Criticism: The concept is not uniformly adopted; some researchers prefer to describe definiteness in Finnic languages using demonstratives, possessive constructions, or syntactic position rather than a dedicated morphological definite marker. The term illustrates how languages without a universal article system may encode definiteness through morphology and discourse-driven cues.

See also: definiteness, articles in Finnic languages, Estonian grammar, demonstratives, demonstrative determiners.