voimastaan

Voimastaan is a Finnish adverbial form derived from the noun voima “power, strength” with the possessive suffix –a and the dativial suffix –stä (“from”). It typically means “by its power” or “by its strength” and is used to describe the force behind an action or event. The construction follows common reconstructions of Finnish adverbial derivation, where the topic sustainer –a is combined with a case ending to turn a noun phrase into an adverb.

In everyday usage, voimastaan can precede verbs or be used postpositively, for example: “Se pudotti viittoja voimastaan” (It dropped the signals by its strength). The adverb is often found in descriptive prose, news reports, and sports commentary to emphasise the magnitude of a physical act. Literary examples include lines in K. Antero Aapa‘s poetry, where the phrase underscores emotional or physical force. The term also appears in idiomatic expressions such as “hypätä voimastaan” (to jump by force) which emphasises a spontaneous or forceful action.

Lexical resources such as Kaalamo’s “Suomen kielen sanakirja” list voimastaan as a standard adverb. While the word is not frequently used with metaphoric senses, it occasionally appears in figurative contexts, for instance “vastustaa jotakin voimastaan” (to resist something by power). Overall, voimastaan functions as a straightforward marker of agency and force in Finnish discourse.