määritteisiä

Määritteisiä is Finnish linguistic term used to describe a class of modifiers that specify or limit the referent of a noun phrase. The word is formed from määrite, meaning a defining property, attribute or determiner, with the -isiä suffix indicating a plural or collective category. In practice, määritteisiä encompass a range of determiner-like elements that contribute to the identification of the head noun.

These modifiers include demonstratives (such as tämä, tuo), possessives (minun, hänen), numerals (kolme, sata) and other quantifiers or restricting adjectives that precede the noun. They function to establish reference, deixis, possession or quantity within noun phrases, and they often coexist with other modifiers and adjectives. Finnish lacks a dedicated definite article, so määritteisiä play a central role in signaling definiteness and specificity in noun phrases.

Syntactically, määritteisiä typically appear before the noun they modify and can interact with adjectives and the noun’s case inflection. For example, phrases like tämä auto (this car) and kolme koiraa (three dogs) illustrate how different types of määritteisiä work together to narrow the referent. The exact classification of what counts as määrite versus other modifier types can vary among grammars, but the general idea is that määritteisiä are the referential and restrictive components in a noun phrase.

In Finnish grammar discussions, määritteisiä are often treated as a broad category of determinants or determiners within the noun phrase, encompassing demonstratives, possessives and numerals that help fix the referent. They are central to how certainty, locality and quantity are encoded in everyday language.