tarkoituksensa

Tarkoituksensa is a Finnish noun phrase formed from tarkoitus, meaning purpose, aim, or intention, combined with the third-person possessive suffix -nsä (written as -nsä or -nsa depending on spelling rules). The resulting form, tarkoituksensa, means its, his, or her, or their purpose, with the possessor understood from context. In practice, tarkoituksensa functions as a noun phrase used to refer to the intended function or aim of something without repeating the possessor.

Morphology and usage

The base word tarkoitus denotes the general concept of purpose. By adding the possessive suffix, the phrase becomes a owned or attributed purpose: tarkoituksensa = its/his/her/their purpose. The suffix -nsä has two orthographic variants (-nsä or -nsa) due to vowel harmony and the surrounding morphophonology; in most written contexts, tarkoituksensa is used without further specification of the possessor when the context makes it clear. The form can refer to a single possessor or to multiple possessors, with ambiguity resolved by context.

Examples

- Tämän laitteen tarkoituksensa on mitata lämpötilaa. (The purpose of this device is to measure temperature.)

- Yrityksen tarkoituksensa on lisätä arvoa sidosryhmille, ei vain voittoa. (The company’s purpose is to create value for stakeholders, not only profit.)

- Elokuvan tarkoituksensa on herättää pohdintaa katsojassa; sen tarkoituksensa on tarjota moraalinen viitekehys. (The film’s purpose is to provoke thought in the viewer; its purpose is to provide a moral frame.)

Etymology and related terms

Tarkoitus derives from the verb tarkottaa/tarkoittaa, with the -us nominalization. Related words include tarkoituksellinen (purposeful) and tarkoitus vs. tarkoituksensa as stylistic alternatives depending on formality and clarity. See also: tarkoitus, tarkoitukset, tarkoituksellinen.