vakavuuksia

Vakavuuksia is the plural form of the Finnish noun vakavuus. Vakavuus denotes seriousness, gravity, or weightiness, especially in a figurative sense. It can refer to how important or consequential a matter is, or to the severity of a situation. In everyday language it is most often used to describe non-physical weight, such as the seriousness of events, decisions, or discussions. The word can also take on a more literary tone when describing moral or societal weight.

Usage and nuances

In Finnish, vakavuus emphasizes the importance, seriousness, or solemn nature of something rather than physical weight. It is common in news, commentary, and formal writing to talk about the vakavuus of a matter or the vakavuudet of a situation. In scientific contexts, vakavuus is rarely used to mean physical gravity; painovoima or gravitaatio are the standard terms. The word is more likely to appear in metaphorical or rhetorical discussions, where it conveys gravity in a moral or strategic sense.

Morphology

The base form is vakavuus. Plural nominative is vakavuudet; partitive plural is vakavuuksia, used when the statement involves an unspecified amount or when the noun is a direct object in a sentence. The term stems from the adjective vakava, meaning serious or weighty, with the usual noun-forming suffix.

See also

Related concepts include gravitas in rhetoric, seriousness, and the Finnish terms paino and painovoima for physical weight or gravity. Vakavuus and vakavuuksia appear mainly in formal, analytical, or literary Finnish.