supistumaa

Supistumaa is a Finnish noun meaning "contraction", "narrowing" or "reduction". It derives from the verb supistua ("to contract, to shrink") with the nominalizing suffix -ma, and the form supistumaa is the partitive singular of supistuma. The term is used in several technical and everyday contexts to denote a process or result in which something becomes smaller, tighter, or less extensive.

In medicine and physiology supistuma commonly refers to muscle or uterine contractions (for example kohdun supistuma when describing labor contractions) and to localized constrictions in vessels or passages. In economics and demography it denotes a decrease in activity or size, as in taloudellinen supistuma (economic contraction). In phonetics and linguistics the word can describe reduction processes where sounds are shortened or elided.

Supistuma is related to the similar Finnish noun supistus, which is often used interchangeably but can carry slightly different nuances depending on register or collocation. English equivalents include contraction, constriction, reduction and narrowing, and appropriate translation depends on context. As a grammatical form, supistumaa appears in syntactic environments requiring the partitive case, such as after certain verbs, with quantities, or in expressions of incomplete action.