paikkakunnilta

Paikkakunnilta is a Finnish term that functions as the elative plural form of paikkakunta, meaning localities or municipalities. It is used to indicate origin or source when the reference involves multiple localities rather than a single place. The equivalent singular form is paikkakunnalta (from a locality), while paikkakunnilta specifies several localities.

In usage, paikkakunnilta appears in contexts such as data sources, populations, and events that involve people or items coming from numerous municipalities. It is common in journalism, statistics, and research to describe geographic breadth, for example: Kyselyn vastaukset on kerätty paikkakunnilta ympäri Suomea (The survey responses were collected from municipalities across Finland). Another example is eri paikkakunnilta peräisin oleva aineisto, meaning material originating from different municipalities.

Grammatically, paikkakunnilta can appear with additional markers or possessive forms, such as paikkakunniltaan (from their localities) to express origin tied to a plural subject. It can also pair with adjectives or adverbs to emphasize geographic distribution, for instance, paikkakunniltaan laajalle levinnyt (spread from several municipalities).

Compared with other case forms, paikkakunnilta conveys a pluralistic geographic source rather than a single place. It is part of the broader Finnish pattern of indicating origin with cases like elative, compounded by the plural to reflect multiple localities.

See also: paikkakunta, elative case, Finnish geography terminology.