pitkiäkin

Pitkiäkin is a Finnish grammatical construction formed from the adjective pitkä in its partitive plural form (pitkiä) combined with the particle -kin. It is used to add emphasis to a statement about length or duration, often conveying a sense of “even [such] long” or “that long, indeed.” The construction is common in spoken Finnish and in literary language, where emphasis or contrast is desired.

Grammatical notes:

- pitkiäkin consists of two parts: pitk- as the stem of pitkä, the partitive plural ending -ä (giving pitkä- becomes pitkä-t), and the enclitic particle -kin, which intensifies the word and adds a sense of approximation or surprise.

- It typically modifies a noun in the partitive plural (for example, päiviä, matkoja, unia) or functions in ellipted phrases where the noun is understood from context.

- The use of -kin can appear with other adjectives as well (e.g., isojaakin, suuriaakin), all serving a similar emphasis function.

Usage and nuances:

- The construction often appears in colloquial speech, narrative prose, and poetry to stress that something was longer or more extensive than expected.

- In formal writing, pitkiäkin is used more sparingly, usually for rhetorical effect or vivid description.

- The nuance includes surprise, exaggeration, or contrast with a previous statement.

Examples:

- Se kesti pitkiäkin päiviä. (It lasted for long days indeed.)

- Näin pitkiäkin unia. (I had such long dreams.)

- Pitkiäkin matkoja teimme viime kesänä. (We undertook long journeys last summer.)

Pitkiäkin thus functions as a focused emphasis marker within Finnish adjective phrases, enriching descriptions of length and duration.