Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic/etelä
Proto-Finnic
Etymology
From *ete- (“front, pre-, fore-”) + *-la (locative suffix). The association of "front" with "south" or "southwest" is because dwellings tended to be built facing in that direction (as that is where the sun shines from at noon in northern Europe).
Noun
*etelä
Inflection
Inflection of *etelä
| Note: The Proto-Finnic declension system is yet to be reconstructed in detail. What is presented here is only one possibility. | |||
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | *etelä | *etelät | |
| accusative | *etelän | *etelät | |
| genitive | *etelän | *eteläden *eteleiden | |
| partitive | *etelätä | *eteleitä | |
| inessive | *etelässä *etelähnä |
*eteleissä *eteleihnä | |
| elative | *etelästä | *eteleistä | |
| illative | *eteläsen | *eteleisen | |
| adessive | *etelällä | *eteleillä | |
| ablative | *etelältä | *eteleiltä | |
| allative | *etelälen *etelälek |
*eteleilen *eteleilek | |
| essive | *etelänä | *eteleinä | |
| translative | *eteläksi | *eteleiksi | |
| instructive | *etelän | *etelein | |
| comitative | *etelänek | *eteleinek | |
| abessive | *etelättä | *eteleittä | |
Descendants
- Estonian: edel (“southwest”)
- Finnish: etelä (“south”)
- Ingrian: etelä (“southwest”)
- Livonian: jedāl (“south”)
- Votic: etele (“southwest”)
Further reading
- Erkki Itkonen, Ulla-Maija Kulonen, editors (1992–2000), “etelä”, in Suomen sanojen alkuperä [The Origin of Finnish Words][1] (in Finnish) (online version; note: also includes other etymological sources; this source is labeled "SSA 1992–2000"), Helsinki: Institute for the Languages of Finland/Finnish Literature Society, →ISBN