määräisestä

Määräisestä is a Finnish adjective form associated with the word määräinen, which means "definite" or "determinate." In Finnish grammar, the idea of definiteness is not expressed with a dedicated definite article, but rather through context, demonstratives, possessives, and other markers. The form määräisestä specifically represents the elative singular of the adjective määräinen, used to modify a noun in the elative case and to indicate that the referring item is a definite or specified one within a given context.

Morphology and usage: The adjective määräinen declines like other Finnish adjectives. When it accompanies a noun in the elative case, it takes the elative ending, resulting in forms such as määräisestä. An example phrase is määräisestä tilanteesta, meaning “from a definite/specified situation.” The use of määräisestä is largely found in linguistic descriptions and grammars rather than in everyday speech, where definiteness is typically expressed with demonstratives (tämä, se) or possessives rather than with a dedicated definite adjective.

Linguistic significance: The term and its inflected forms are employed mainly in academic discussions of Finnish referentiality and definiteness. They illustrate how Finnish can express a definite reading without articles, by combining adjectives that carry a sense of specification with case marking. In ordinary language, speakers usually rely on context, demonstratives, or possessive constructions rather than on an explicit definiteness adjective.

Overall, määräinen and its forms, including määräisestä, are primarily of interest to linguists studying Finnish grammar and the system of definiteness in the language.