tekijännominaaleja

Tekijännominaaleja, known in English as agent nouns or agentive nouns, are a class of nouns in linguistics that denote the agent performing an action or the instrument used for performing an action. These nouns are typically derived from verbs. For example, in English, the verb "teach" can be nominalized to "teacher," indicating the person who teaches. Similarly, "write" can become "writer."

The formation of agent nouns varies significantly across languages. Some languages use suffixes, while others employ prefixes or internal vowel changes. In Finnish, for instance, the suffix -ja/-jä is commonly used, as seen in words like "lukija" (reader) from "lukea" (to read) or "tekijä" (doer/maker) from "tehdä" (to do/make). Other suffixes like -uri or -in can also form agent nouns, such as "tekuri" (worker) or "sytytin" (igniter).

Agent nouns are crucial for expressing who or what performs a specific role or function. They allow for a more concise and direct way of referring to individuals or objects based on their actions. The concept is not limited to human agents; it can also refer to inanimate objects that perform a function, like a "strainer" (from "strain") or a "wiper" (from "wipe"). Understanding agent nouns is important for analyzing word formation and the semantic relationships between verbs and nouns within a language.