puuttua

• IPA^(key): /ˈpuːtːuɑˣ/, [ˈpuːt̪ːuɑ̝(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -uːtːuɑ
• Syllabification^(key): puut‧tu‧a
• Hyphenation^(key): puut‧tua

From Proto-Finnic *puuttudak. Related to Estonian puuduma, Karelian puutuo, Livonian pūtõ and Votic puutoz (~ puutos). The long -tt- is probably by contamination with that of puuttua (etymology 2).

puuttua

1. (intransitive) to be missing; to be lacking [with elative or ablative ‘from’]; (elative/ablative +) to lack

   Yksi pala puuttuu.

   One piece is missing.

   Palapelistä puuttuu yksi pala.

   The puzzle lacks one piece.

   Sinulta puuttuu itseluottamusta.

   You lack confidence.

   Mikä puuttuu? (to someone that is clearly trying to find something)

   What are you looking for? / What are you trying to find?

   (literally, “What is missing?”)

• (to lack, be missing):
  • What is lacked, missing is the grammatical subject of puuttua, unlike with English lack, where it is the object. However, a sentence that features both the subject and object of lack tends to still have a word order equivalent to that of English, where that which lacks comes first, then puuttua, then what is lacked/missing.
  • That who or which is lacking (the subject of lack) is in the elative or ablative case. The rule of thumb is that the elative case is used with things and the ablative case with people.
  • More specifically (when such a difference needs to be made), the elative case is used when the missing or lacking thing is considered to be a part of that thing, while the ablative case is used when the missing or lacking thing is considered something that one possesses, owns or has:

    Mitä minusta puuttuu?

    What am I lacking in? = What do I not have (in terms of character, personality, etc.) that I should?

    Mitä minulta puuttuu?

    What am I lacking? = What do I not own/possess (equipment, product, etc.) that I must/should?

• (be missing): uupua, olla kadoksissa, olla hukassa

From Proto-Finnic *puuttudak. Related to Estonian puutuma, Ingrian puuttua, Livonian pūtõ, Karelian puuttuo, Ludian puuttuda, Veps putta and Votic puuttua. Possibly from earlier *puuttadak (unless a back-formation, whence dialectal puuttaa and Karelian puuttoa), in which case it may also be related to Erzya путомс (putoms),^[1] albeit this is uncertain due to phonological problems.

puuttua (intransitive) [with illative]

1. to intervene (in), get involved (in), interfere (with)
2. to clamp down on, to put an end to (to take measures to stop something)

   Hallitus aikoo puuttua alaikäisten juomiseen.

   The government aims to clamp down on underage drinking.

3. (now uncommon) to touch (physically disturb)

   Synonym: kajota

4. (now uncommon) to catch, touch (be impeded by)

   Synonym: ottaa kiinni

• “puuttua”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 1 January 2024

From Proto-Finnic *puutudak. Cognates include Finnish puuttua and Estonian puududa.

The irregular lengthening -t- > -tt- is probably due to contamination with Etymology 2.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈpuːtːuɑ/, [ˈpuːtːo̞]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈpuːtːuɑ/, [ˈpuːtːuɑ]
• Rhymes: -uːtːoː, -uːtːuɑ
• Hyphenation: puut‧tu‧a

puuttua

1. (intransitive) to be missing

From Proto-Finnic *puuttudak. Cognates include Finnish puuttua and Estonian puutuda.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈpuːtːuɑ/, [ˈpuːtːo̞]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈpuːtːuɑ/, [ˈpuːtːuɑ]
• Rhymes: -uːtːoː, -uːtːuɑ
• Hyphenation: puut‧tu‧a

puuttua

1. (transitive) to touch
   • 1937, D. I. Efimov, Lukukirja: Inkeroisia alkușkouluja vart (toin osa), Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 114:

     Puutut pehkoa — lehtoist näölle hoppian kasse praiskuu.

     You touch a bush — like silver, dew will splash from the leaves onto your face.

2. (intransitive + illative) to get into
   • 1936, N. A. Iljin and V. I. Junus, Bukvari iƶoroin șkouluja vart, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 26:

     Verkkoo puuttui hailija.

     A herring got stuck in the net.

3. (intransitive + inessive) to appear
   • 1936, V. I. Junus, Iƶoran Keelen Grammatikka‎^[2], Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 11:

     Toin vokala ono slogatoin, sentää ku se slogas puuttuu vaa glavnoin vokalanka.

     The second vowel is non-syllabic, because it only appears in a syllable with a main vowel.

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971), Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 446

From Proto-Finnic *puuttudak.

• (Luutsa, Liivtšülä) IPA^(key): /ˈpuːtːuɑ̯/, [ˈpuːtːuɑ̯]
• (Jõgõperä) IPA^(key): /ˈpuːtːuɑ̯/, [ˈpuːtːuɑ̯]
• Rhymes: -uːtːuɑ̯
• Hyphenation: puut‧tua

puuttua

1. (transitive) to touch
2. (transitive) to touch, catch, get caught (be impeded by)
3. (intransitive) to end up (in), find oneself (in a situation)

• Hallap, V.; Adler, E.; Grünberg, S.; Leppik, M. (2012), “puuttua”, in Vadja keele sõnaraamat [A dictionary of the Votic language], 2nd edition, Tallinn