How do I add the suffix '-ssa' in equal to the preps in English? Can someone give me some examples?
Luultavasti Selleri on jo ehtinyt pitemmälle, mutta... huvin vuoksi:
Using the Finnish inessive suffix
-ssa/
-ssä can be tricky for a beginner, since it triggers the so-called consonant gradation (astevaihtelu) within the preceeding word stem. Further stem changes occur often (but not always) if the final sound of the word is
e,
i,
l,
n,
r,
s or
t.
When there is no gradation, adding the suffix is relatively simple. Just mind the vowel harmony (vokaalisointu):
•
sana :
sanassa•
puro :
purossa•
kehä :
kehässä•
syy :
syyssäEtymologically old words ending with
i undergo an
-i >
-e- stem change:
•
meri :
meressäEtymologically younger words do not:
•
siili :
siilissä•
banaani :
banaanissaEtymologically old words ending with
l or
r take an additional
-e- to connect the ending, since
-ssa/
-ssä can never be added to a word-final consonant:
•
kyynel :
kyynelessäEtymologically old words ending with
n or
t have belonged to the same group at some point, but in modern Finnish, additional changes take place.
t disappears in the process, while
n gets replaced with
m:
•
kevyt :
kevyessä•
avain :
avaimessa***
...Frankly, I had forgotten that Finnish morphology was
this complex. I still have not reached the consonant gradation.
Schmeichel, if you feel like telling us how you have learned basics of Finnish, I would gladly read that. What kind of materials do you have access to? Have you ever attended any kind of a Finnish language course?
Onnea opintoihin! (
opinto + plural
-i- + illative
-hin.)
