vuoristoon

Vuoristoon is the illative case form of the Finnish noun vuoristo, meaning “to the mountains” or “into the mountains.” It is used to indicate movement toward or into mountainous regions and commonly appears in travel writing, geography, and ordinary speech describing journeys to the mountains.

Form and usage: In Finnish, the illative case marks direction into a location. For vuoristo, the illative singular is vuoristoon, and the illative plural is vuoristoihin. Examples include “Menen vuoristoon” (I am going to the mountains) or “Matkustimme vuoristoon viime kesänä.” The illative contrasts with other cases such as vuoristossa (in the mountains) and vuoristosta (from the mountains).

Etymology and meaning: Vuoristo refers to a mountain range and is formed from vuori (mountain) with the -sto suffix creating a collective noun. The illative suffix -on reflects vowel harmony and attaches to the stem to produce vuoristoon. The phrase conveys entering or heading toward elevated terrain and is part of the broader system of Finnish directional cases.