äidiltään

äidiltään is a Finnish expression used to indicate provenance or lineage in relation to a mother. The form represents the idea “from one’s mother” or “on one’s mother’s side.” It is built from äiti (mother) with the elative suffix -ltä meaning “from,” plus a third-person possessive ending that specifies whose mother is being referred to, yielding a form that is commonly used in reference to maternal origin.

Morphology and related forms: In Finnish, the elative case (from) combines with possessive suffixes to show origin from a specific person. Thus, äidiltään literally signals “from her/his mother.” This pattern is parallel to other kinship expressions such as isältään (from his/her father) and isoäidiltään (from his/her grandmother). The exact pronunciation and spelling reflect Finnish phonology and the assimilation of suffixes in connected speech.

Usage and nuance: äidiltään is used when the source of information, traits, or lineage is explicitly maternal. It can refer to biological inheritance (for example, traits or diseases inherited from one’s mother) or to kinship on the mother’s side. It is common in genealogical or biographical contexts, as well as in discussions of inheritance, upbringing, or cultural background.

Examples:

- Tietoja perimistäni sairauksista on peräisin äidiltään. (The information about inherited diseases comes from my mother.)

- Hän on äidiltään kotoisin, ja tämä näkyy hänen suvussa.

See also: isältään, isoäidiltään, matrilineal, kinship terminology in Finnish.