substantiivi

Substantiivi is the Finnish term for a noun, a word class that denotes persons, places, things or abstract concepts. Substantiivit are central to noun phrases and can function as subjects, objects, or predicates in sentences. They are inflected for number (singular and plural) and for case, and they generally do not carry grammatical gender. Finnish has no articles, so definiteness and reference are indicated by demonstratives, possessives, or other modifiers rather than articles.

Substantiivit can be divided into several broad types, including common nouns (talo, ihminen) and proper nouns (Helsinki, Paavo). They may be concrete or abstract, countable or mass. Nouns can combine with adjectives and determiners, and they can take possessive suffixes (e.g., taloni meaning “my house”).

Morphology is a defining feature of substantiivit: they decline across a range of cases (nominative as the base form, plus genitive, partitive, inessive, illative, adessive, ablative, allative, essive, translative, and others). The plural is typically formed with endings such as -t, with variations depending on the stem. Stem changes like consonant gradation and the effects of vowel harmony may influence the exact endings.

Usage and derivation: substantiivit form the backbone of Finnish noun phrases and can be derived from other parts of speech or combined in compounds. They also participate in determiners and numerals to convey quantity and specificity.

See also: Finnish grammar; noun phrase; cases; consonant gradation.