Words Ending in -mA – Sattuma, Syntymä, Unelma
Words ending in -mA (either -ma or -mä according to vowel harmony rules) can have many different historic sources. Some of them are very clearly derived from a verb (e.g. elää → elämä), while others can be traced back to a time when Finnish was still developing into a language of its own.
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- Words ending in -mA organized by verbtype origin
- Verbtype 1 verbs
- Verbtype 2 verbs
- Verbtype 3 verbs
- Words Ending in -mA that require a historical background
- The history of the Finnish language
- Proto-Finnic or Finno-Ugric origin words
- More recent loanwords ending in -mA
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1. Words Ending in -mA Organized by Verbtype Origin
1.1. Words Ending in -mA from Verbtype 1 Verbs
Our first group of nouns is the largest: words that have been derived from a verbtype 1 verb. Generally, these words are created by taking the strong stem of the verb (e.g. liitty-; näky-; taantu-) and adding -mA to the end of them (e.g. liittymä; näkymä; taantuma).
Noun | Translation | Origin |
---|---|---|
elämä | life | elää |
heijastuma | reflection | heijastua |
hyytymä | clot | hyytyä |
ilmentymä | embodiment | ilmentyä |
ilosanoma | tincture | sanoa |
kasautuma | accumulation | kasautua |
kaventuma | constriction | kaventua |
kovettuma | callus | kovettua |
kuluma | worn out part | kulua |
laajentuma | expansion, enlargement | laajentua |
lausuma | enunciation | lausua |
liittymä | subscription, interface | liittyä |
lyhennelmä | abridgment, digest version | lyhentää |
murtuma | fracture, breakage | murtua |
näkymä | view, prospect | näkyä |
oireyhtymä | syndrome | yhtyä |
paleltuma | frostbite | paleltua |
rakennelma | construct, construction | rakentaa |
sattuma | coincidence | sattua |
sekaantuma | contamination | sekaantua |
siirtymä | transitional, displacement | siirtyä |
sortuma | cave-in | sortua |
syntymä | birth | syntyä |
taantuma | recession, downturn | taantua |
tapahtuma | happening, event | tapahtua |
tunnelma | ambience, atmosphere | tuntea |
tutkielma | study, dissertation | tutkia |
väittämä | proposition | väittää |
1.2. Words Ending in -mA from Verbtype 2 Verbs
Noun | Translation | Origin |
---|---|---|
juoma | drink | juoda |
jäämä | left-over, remnant, residue | jäädä |
voima | power | voida |
1.3. Words Ending in -mA from Verbtype 3 Verbs
This group is fairly large. These nouns have in common that they end in -lmA. The -l- originates from the basic form of the verb, which ends in -llA.
Noun | Translation | Origin |
---|---|---|
asetelma | still life (painting) | asetella |
askelma | step (of stairs) | askella |
hahmotelma | outline, draft, plan | hahmotella |
järjestelmä | system | järjestellä |
kuolema | death | kuolla |
kuvitelma | fantasy / notion | kuvitella |
lajitelma | assortment | lajitella |
menetelmä | method | menetellä |
muistelma | memoir | muistella |
muunnelma | variant, variation | muunnella |
muodostelma | formation | muodostella |
näytelmä | play | näytellä |
suudelma | kiss | suudella |
suunnitelma | plan | suunnitella |
vaikutelma | impression, appearance | vaikutella |
viljelmä | plantation | viljellä |
yhdistelmä | combination | yhdistellä |
mukaelma | adaptation, retelling | mukaella |
purema | bite | purra |
päätelmä | conclusion, deduction | päätellä |
tiivistelmä | summary, synopsis | tiivistellä |
2. Words Ending in -mA that Require a Historical Background
2.1. The History of the Finnish Language
Natural languages are never just born the way they are right now. They’ve developed over time, and linguists can trace languages back to a time when they were still one with other closely related languages. That’s how we know some things about Germanic and Baltic languages.
Finnish is closely related to a whole bunch of languages spoken in the Baltic area or parts of Russia. These languages are referred to as Finnic languages. They have a common ancestor; a time when they were one and the same language before they started to drift off in different directions. This language is called the Proto-Finnic language (myöhäiskantasuomi). Below, I am linking to the Wikipedia articles concerning the Finnic languages I will refer to in this article.
- Votic language or Votian
- Veps language or Vepsian
- Ludic language or Ludian
- Livonian language
- Karelian
- Estonian
When we go further back still in the history of the Finnic languages, we can find more languages which are less closely related to nowaday Finnish. These languages belong to the Finno-Ugric language family (suomalais-ugrilaiset kielet); which existed in a time before the Proto-Finnic and the Ugric languages started to drift off in different directions. Finno-Ugric languages referred to in this article are:
2.2. Proto-Finnic or Finno-Ugric Origin Words Ending in -mA
In the following list, I have occasionally omitted some languages in the origin list. The point of this list is not to be complete, but rather to give you a general idea of how old a word is and how wide-spread. You can find the broader language group these languages belong to between brackets.
Noun | Translation | Origin |
---|---|---|
emä | mother, parent | Proto-Uralic word |
hedelmä | fruit | similar words in Votian, Livonian and Estonian (Proto-Finnish) |
helma | hem | similar words in Votian, Livonian, Estonian and Karelian (Germanic loan) |
kerma | cream | probably from the ancient Finnish word “keri” (“surface layer”) |
kiima | rut, heat | similar words in Karelian, Vepsian and Estonian (Proto-Finnic) |
kuorma | load, burden | similar words in Karelian, Vepsian, Estonian and Votian (Proto-Finnic) |
kuuma | hot | similar words in Karelian, Votian, Estonian and Livonian (Proto-Finnic) |
kylmä | cold | similar words in Karelian, Livonian (Proto-Finnic) and Mordvinian, Mari (Finno-Ugric) |
lehmä | cow | similar words in all Proto-Finnic languages, as well as in Mordvinian |
oma | own | similar words in Proto-Finnic languages, prob related to third person form of olla |
ongelma | problem | really unclear, no similar words in Proto-Finnic |
piimä | buttermilk | really unclear, similar words in Votian and Estonian don’t mean the same thing |
ryhmä | group | really unclear, possibly a Germanic or Baltic loan |
satama | harbor, port | derivated from the verb “sataa“, which used to mean “to land, to touch down“ |
silmä | eye | similar words in Uralic languages (Vepsian, Sámi, Mansi, Hanti, Udmurt, Hungarian) |
surma | death | similar words in Karelian, Votian (Proto-Finnic) and Mansi, Hanti (Finno-Ugric) |
viima | wind | unclear, possible onomatopoetic “vii” + –ma |
tyhmä | stupid | similar words in Karelian, Estonian and Ludian; unsure; thought to be a Germanic loan |
tuhma | naughty | similar words in Vepsian, Votian, Ludian, Estonian and Sámi (Proto-Finnic) |
2.2. More Recent Loanwords Ending in -mA
Noun | Translation | Origin |
---|---|---|
glaukooma | glaucoma | glaucoma |
lymfooma | lymphoma | lymphoma |
melanooma | melanoma | melanoma |
syndrooma | syndrome | syndrome |
kooma | coma | coma |
skeema | schema | schema |
teema | theme | theme |
liima | glue | Swedish: lim |
loma | vacation | could be an old Baltic loan |
ruuma | hold for cargo | Germanic loan, probably Swedish |
ohjelma | program | Germanic loan |
tapaturma | accident | Germanic loan |
Note: In addition to what’s above, there are some words ending in -mA that seem to be derived from a noun. I have been unable to find more information about these nouns, so I will just list them here:
- ihottuma < iho?
- seinämä < seinä?
- kudelma < kude, kuteet?
- unelma < uni?
Heeya i amm for thhe primary tome here. I found thuis boatd andd
I find It really useful & iit heped me oout much. I’m hoping to guve onne thing again aand
help others lijke you aided me.