sanoissa

Sanoissa is the Finnish inessive plural form of sana, meaning “in the words.” It is used in linguistic and literary contexts to refer to the content that is stated or quoted within spoken or written utterances. As a grammatical form, sanoissa signals location — the material contained within the words of a text or speech — rather than actions or implied meaning.

In usage, sanoissa appears primarily in formal discussions of grammar, stylistics, and quotation. It is uncommon in everyday speech, where speakers more often rely on phrases such as sanassa, sanan mukaan, or other expressions to refer to content. A typical example is the sentence “Sanoissa on ironia,” which conveys that irony appears in the words themselves. Another example is “Tekstin sanoissa kuvataan päähenkilön tunteita,” describing the protagonist’s feelings as they are presented in the text’s words.

Morphologically, sanoissa is formed from sana (word) with the inessive plural suffix -issa, yielding “in the words.” The corresponding singular form is sanassa (in the word). Related forms include sanojen (of the words) and sanan (of the word) in different cases, which are used in similarly contextual ways to discuss content within language.

See also: Finnish grammar, inessive case, quotation and reported speech, lexical semantics.