persoonallinen

Persoonallinen is a Finnish adjective meaning personal, intimate, subjective, or tailored to an individual. It describes things relating to a person or to a person’s character, experiences, or preferences. The nuance can range from a plain “pertaining to a person” to “personal and private” depending on the context.

Etymology and form: The word is formed in Finnish with the -llinen suffix, a common suffix for adjectives, and is typically regarded as a loanword from other European languages such as Swedish or English. The root conveys ideas connected to a person or personality, though the exact lineage is not always explicit in Finnish usage.

Usage: In everyday Finnish, persoonallinen is less common in formal writing than the more standard henkilökkohtainen (personal, private). It appears in marketing, media, or informal style to convey personalization or personal relevance, for example in phrases like persoonallinen kokemus (personalized experience) or persoonallinen viesti (personal message). It can also describe subjective viewpoints, such as persoonlijk näkökulma, depending on stylistic choices in the text.

Related terms: In discussions of privacy and data, Finnish tends to use henkilötiedot (personal data) and henkilökohtainen (personal, private) as standard terms. The noun form for the idea of personalization is person­alisointi, used in marketing and technology contexts to denote customization or personalization of services.

See also: henkilötiedot, henkilökohtainen, personalisointi.