-hinen

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Finnish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Finnic *-hinën, a variant of -inen with a -h- (see the Proto-Finnic entry for more details).

Suffix[edit]

-hinen

  1. Forms nouns or adjectives of belonging to or possessing a particular quality.

Usage notes[edit]

This suffix often loses the -h- in many dialects (including those that form the basis for the standard language), which can make it difficult to determine whether a suffix was originally -inen or -hinen. One sign is the form the word takes when attached to an e-stem nominal (i.e. a nominal ending in -i in the nominative form that turns into an -e- when inflected): käsikätinen (-inen), käteinen (-hinen). Another is the presence of a variant that retains the -h- in dialects.

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

  • Hakulinen, Lauri. 1941–2000. Suomen kielen rakenne ja kehitys ('The Structure and Development of the Finnish Language'). Helsinki: Otava/Helsingin yliopisto.