Both nominals and verb forms are built up by the addition of endings to
stems. For nominals, in general the basic form itself functions as the stem,
and in many declension types the basic form remains unchanged when
endings are added: e.g. auto/n, auto/ssa, auto/on, auto/ni, auto/kin.
However, sound alternations may sometimes occur with certain endings; p, t
and k in the stem are subject to consonant gradation (§15), and the final
vowel may change or disappear when an -i- ending is added (§16).
A word may sometimes have different stems according to what kind of
ending follows. The different stems are formed via sound alternations. Often
the basic form (nominative singular), or the basic form and the partitive
singular have their own stems, and all other case, number and possessive
endings are attached to a second or third stem. This is called the inflectional
stem.
Nominals wher the basic form differs from the inflectional stem can
be divided into three groups. The first consists of nominals with a basic
form ending in -i and a corresponding inflectional stem in -e, e.g. kieli
‘language’ : kiele/n. The second group comprises nominals with a basic
form ending in -e and an inflectional stem in -ee, e.g. perhe ‘family’ :
perhee/n. Finally, in the third group the basic form ends in a consonant
which alternates with other sounds in the inflectional stem, e.g. kysymys
‘question’ : kysymykse/n.
In the following sections these groups are presented in turn. The
inflectional stem is represented by the genitive form, e.g. kiele/n, perhee/n,
kysymykse/n. Almost all the other forms can be made by replacing the
genitive ending -n by other endings, e.g. kiele/n, kiele/ssä, kiele/stä, kiele/
llä, kiele/ni, kiele/mme, etc. The following rule is therefore an important
one:
The declension of nominals 45
The rules of consonant gradation and vowel change affect both basic form
stems and inflectional stems.
Some examples now follow of how the inflectional stem kiele- is combined
with various nominal endings marking case, number and possession.
Basic form Inflectional
stem+case
kieli language kiele/n of the language
kiele/t languages
kiele/ssä in the language
kiele/stä out of the language
kiele/en into the language
kiele/llä with the language
kiele/lle to the language
kiele/nä as the language
kiel/tä language (part.)
Inflectional Inflectional
stem+plural stem+possessive
kiel/i/ssä in languages kiele/ni my language
kiel/i/stä out of languages kiele/si your language
kiel/i/in into languages kiele/nsä his/her/their language
kiel/i/llä with languages kiele/mme our language
kiel/i/nä as languages kiele/nne your language
kiel/i/lle to languages
Enclitic particles are attached directly to the inflected or uninflected form.
kieli/kin the language too
kiele/n/hän of the language+emph.
kiele/ssä/hän in the language+emph.
kiel/tä/kö? language? (part.)
kiel/i/ssä/hän in languages+emph.
kiele/ni/pä my language+emph.
