syntymä

Syntymä is a Finnish noun that denotes the event of being born or the moment when a living being enters the world. It is a foundational concept in biology and human development. In everyday language, syntymä appears in compounds such as syntymäpäivä (birthday) and syntymäaika (date of birth).

In medical and scientific contexts, syntymä marks the transition from fetal to neonatal life. The process is commonly referred to as birth or parturition. Related terms include synnyttää (to give birth), syntyminen (emergence or origin), and vastasyntynyt (newborn). The concept sits alongside pregnancy (raskaus) and labor (synnytys) in discussions of reproductive biology.

Usage and records: In Finland, birth information is documented in official records such as syntymätodistus (birth certificate). Birth details are also maintained in population registers, and the event is a prerequisite for legal identity documents and citizenship processes. The term syntymä is widely understood across Nordic languages with equivalents for the basic idea of being born, though linguistic specifics differ.

Compared with related Finnish terms, syntymä specifically refers to the birth event itself, while words like syntyminen focus more on origin or emergence in a broader sense. The noun is commonly used in both everyday language and formal contexts to denote the moment a life begins.