roomalaisiin

Roomalaisiin is the illative plural form of the Finnish noun roomalainen, meaning a Roman. In Finnish, illative forms indicate movement toward or into a referent, so roomalaisiin literally conveys “into the Romans” or “to the Romans.” The base word roomalainen is formed from Rooma (Rome) with the nationality suffix -lainen, and its plural is roomalaiset. The illative plural ending -iin is one of several cases used for this word in different grammatical contexts.

The form is primarily encountered in linguistic discussions about Finnish grammar, and in historical or religious texts that explicitly discuss Romans. In everyday Finnish, the Romans as a group are usually referred to as roomalaiset; phraseology such as “to the Romans” is more commonly rendered with the allative form roomalaisille (to the Romans) rather than with the illative roomalaisiin. Therefore, roomalaisiin has a relatively specialized usage and does not represent a common everyday reference to Romans.

Etymologically, the word derives from Rooma, the Finnish name for Rome, combined with the nationality suffix -lainen, which is used to form demonyms such as suomalainen (Finnish person) or roomalainen (Roman). The related terms roomalainen, Rooma, and Roomalaiskirje appear in various historical and religious contexts within Finnish.

See also: roomalainen, Rooma, Roomalaiskirje, Roomalaiset.