vuosisadalta

Vuosisadalta is a Finnish grammatical construction used to indicate origin or dating to a particular century. It is formed from the noun vuosisata (century) with the ablative suffix -alta, producing a phrase that denotes source or dating from that century. In practice, vuosisadalta is often seen in archival, historical, or bibliographic language to describe objects, texts, or phenomena that originate in a given century.

Morphology and usage

The form functions as a source or dating marker and typically appears with nouns in phrases such as vuosisadalta peräisin oleva teos or vuosisadalta peräisin olevat asiakirjat, meaning “a work dating from the century” or “documents dating from the century.” It is most common in written, formal registers and scholarly writing, where exact years are unknown or less important than the century context. The phrase can be used more broadly to qualify descriptions or classifications by the century.

Context and examples

Common contexts include museums, archives, and historical studies, where researchers categorize artifacts, maps, or texts by their century rather than by specific dates. For instance, “vuosisadalta 1800-luvun kartat” refers to maps from the 19th century. While grammatically precise, vuosisadalta can be ambiguous without accompanying context, so it is typically paired with additional information to clarify the precise century or the item’s dating.

See also

vuosisata (century)

Notes

Vuosisadalta is not a casual everyday expression; its use is largely limited to historical or archival discourse where century-scale dating is relevant.