pitävyys

Pitävyys is a Finnish abstract noun that broadly denotes the quality of being valid, reliable, sound or tenable. The word is formed from the verb pitää (to hold, keep, consider) with an abstractive suffix that creates nouns expressing a state or quality. In English contexts it is often translated as validity, credibility, or stability depending on usage.

In everyday language pitävyys can refer to the dependability or durability of an object or arrangement (for example a decision, agreement or structure). In academic and scientific discourse the term commonly describes the methodological soundness or robustness of a study, argument or evidence. In legal contexts pitävyys is used to assess the enforceability or legal validity of contracts, claims and rulings.

Typical collocations in Finnish include väitteen pitävyys (the tenability/validity of a claim), sopimuksen pitävyys (the enforceability of an agreement) and tutkimuksen pitävyys (the soundness of a study). The nuance of the term depends on domain: moral or practical reliability in everyday speech, epistemic reliability in scholarship, and formal legality in law.

Related concepts include luotettavuus (reliability), pätevyys (competence or validity), and kestävyys (durability), though each conveys different emphases. Pitävyys is part of Finland’s general vocabulary for evaluating arguments, documents and objects, and it plays a role in both colloquial judgments and professional assessments.