viitattua

Viitattua is a Finnish grammatical form used to indicate that content has been cited or referenced in a text. It is the partitive singular form of the past passive participle viitattu, which comes from the verb viitata (to refer, to cite). In Finnish, participles can function as adjectives, and viitattua describes information or sources that have been cited.

Etymology and grammar: Viitattua is formed from viitattu with the partitive ending -a/-ä, reflecting its role as an attributive modifier in phrases where the noun is in partitive. The form is common in academic and journalistic writing, where authors refer to material that is not original but drawn from sources.

Usage: Viitattua typically appears before mass or indefinite nouns in partitive, signaling external attribution. Examples include viitattua tietoa (cited information) and viitattua lähdekirjallisuutta (cited source literature). It is not used as a standalone noun; rather, it functions as an adjective-style form describing the following noun.

Nuances: The choice of viitattua versus other forms depends on the syntactic context and the case/gender of the noun it modifies. In most formal Finnish, the partitive form conveys ongoing or indefinite scope, which aligns with how sources are often discussed in scholarly prose.

See also: viitata, viittaus, lähdeviite, lähdekirjallisuus.

References: Finnish grammar resources such as Kielitoimiston sanakirja and scholarly language guides from the Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus provide explanations of participle usage and the partitive form in attributive constructions.