Re: De (los) Estados Unidos

From: Pekka Karjalainen (pkarjala_at_paju.oulu.fi)
Date: 09/15/04 

Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 07:34:45 +0000 (UTC)

In article <7a31b7bf.0409141023.77931e75@posting.google.com>, Nigel Greenwood wrote:
>I see from the dictionary that there are a number of words that do end
>in -valtainen (eg "maatalousvaltainen maa", "omavaltainen ratkaisu").
>So at least it wasn't too unFinnish, even if it was unAmerican.
>

  Yes, it is just a different derivational suffix. In the case of
"Yhdysvallat" the suffix "-lainen" is added to a plural word, which makes
the word turn into a singular form. So, instead of "*Yhdysvallatlainen" it
is "Yhdysvalta-lainen" (hyphen for clarity, not used in standard
language).

  "-valtainen" in turn comes from "valta + inen". They do look a lot alike
in this case, so it is not rare for native speakers to mix the two up
either.

  Some Finnish place names may be an exception to that rule of
derivational suffixes always joining singular forms. For example, there is
a place called "Virrat" (lit. rivers), that I am told is declined by the
locals *not* as it were a plural ("menen Virrattiin"). Thus, they may very
well say "Virratlainen", or not. I don't know. You have to look up these
things to know... 

-- 
Pekka Karjalainen
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