vanha

Vanha is a Finnish adjective meaning "old" or "aged." It describes something that has existed for a long time or is not new, and it can refer to people, animals, objects, or places. In everyday use, vanha conveys both physical age and a sense of antiquity or familiarity, as in old houses, old literature, or an old friend.

In Finnish, adjectives agree in form with the noun they modify. For example: vanha talo (a single old house), vanhat talot (old houses). The word also inflects across cases and numbers: vanhan talon (genitive), vanhaa taloa (partitive), vanhojen talojen (genitive plural), vanhoja taloja (partitive plural), vanhassa talossa (inessive), vanhasta talosta (elative), vanhaan taloon (illative). Plural forms include vanhoissa taloissa (inessive plural), vanhoista taloista (elative plural), and vanhoihin taloihin (illative plural). The comparative and superlative forms are vanhempi and vanhin, used to describe things that are older relative to others, e.g., vanhempi talo (older house) or vanhin talo (oldest house).

Common uses and phrases include vanha sanonta (old saying), vanha ystävä (old friend), and vanha aika (the old times). The word can also appear in compound expressions and literary style to evoke tradition or nostalgia.

Etymologically, vanha is a native Finnish word, with cognates in other Finnic languages such as Estonian vana (old). It is related to broader concepts of aging and antiquity in Finnish, including verbs like vanheneminen (aging) and vanhentua (to become outdated).

See also: vanheneminen, vanhentua, vanha sanonta.