pikkutyttö

Pikkutyttö is a Finnish noun meaning a young girl, typically a child in early childhood. It is a diminutive compound formed from pikku (small) and tyttö (girl), and in standard Finnish it is written as a single closed word: pikkutyttö.

Usage of pikkutyttö is common in everyday Finnish, as well as in children’s literature and media. The term carries a neutral to affectionate tone and is used by family members, educators, and others when referring to a girl who is not yet an adolescent. It describes age and stage rather than character traits and its exact age range is flexible and determined by context.

Spelling and form notes: pikkutyttö is typically treated as a standard closed compound. It is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence. Like many Finnish compounds, it conveys a specific, somewhat intimate sense of childhood without implying formal or evaluative judgments.

In cultural and linguistic contexts, pikkutyttö evokes the imagery of early childhood and innocence often associated with young girls. It is one of several common ways to refer to a female child, alongside broader terms such as tyttö (girl) or nuori tyttö (young girl) used when specifying age ranges or stages of development.

See also: tyttö, nuori tyttö.