-inen

From Proto-Finnic *-inën. Originally also had the variant -nen, but in the standard language, the two variants have been made distinct by giving them different uses.

• IPA^(key): /-inen/, [-ine̞n]
• IPA^(key): /-ne(n)/, [-ne̞(n)] (colloquial, dialectal; see usage notes)

-inen

1. Creates adjectives:
   1. Creates adjectives signifying a certain quality: -like, -ous, -y

      ‎vuoristo (“mountain range”) + ‎-inen → ‎vuoristoinen (“mountainous”)

      ‎sotku (“mess”) + ‎-inen → ‎sotkuinen (“messy”)

      ‎talvi (“winter”) + ‎-inen → ‎talvinen (“wintry”)

   2. Creates adjectives indicating a material of which something is made: -en

      ‎kulta (“gold”) + ‎-inen → ‎kultainen (“golden”)

      ‎puu (“tree; wood”) + ‎-inen → ‎puinen (“wooden”)

   3. Creates adjectives from present active participles, indicating a tendency to be/do something.

      ‎taipuva (“flexible”) + ‎-inen → ‎taipuvainen (“inclined, predisposed (to do something)”)

   4. Creates adjectives from foreign roots: -ic

      ‎demokraatti- + ‎-inen → ‎demokraattinen (“democratic”)

      ‎konstruktiivi- + ‎-inen → ‎konstruktiivinen (“constructive”)

• This suffix is highly productive.
• All -inen nominals belong to declension class 38 (nainen). Nominals belonging to this class have special combining forms.
  • The combining form used for most -inen derivatives (including basically all nouns) before other words in a compound: the final -nen is replaced with -s-:

    pohjoinen → pohjois-

  • For -inen words where the root is of Latin or Greek origin, the -s- too is often dropped.

    nominaalinen → nominaali-

• When appended to verbs ending in -taa, -tää, the verb stem ending in -te- is used.

  kerrostaa → kerrosteinen

• Should not be confused with the diminutive suffix -nen in the standard language. The two suffixes are however etymologically identical and hence the distinction may not be observed in some dialects.
  • Colloquially and dialectally, -inen may lose its -i-. In the most common variants of colloquial Finnish, the -i- is elided if it is unstressed and immediately preceded by a vowel that is not e and is in the same syllable as -i- (i.e. part of a -Vi- diphthong). The dropping may be avoided if it would result in an unacceptable amount of ambiguity.
• -hinen was originally a distinct suffix, but has become confused with -inen, and most speakers do not recognize them as separate suffixes.

• Enni, enin