-lle

lle llé Finnish Alternative forms dialectal fi -le -len -llen Etymology From fi urj-fin-pro *-llën *-(l)lëk, a variant of urj-fin-pro *-llën *-(l)lën (whence dialectal fi -len, fi -llen), which is related to urj-fin-pro *-sën illative case suffix and is composed of -l(l)- (external locative suffix) + fi urj-pro *-ŋ lative or dative suffix (with an epenthetic *-e-). Compare Erzya and mdf -нень allative suffix. It is not known whether the short *-l- or long *-ll- is original. If short, the long -l- may be due to analogy with fi -lla, fi -lta. The answer likely depends on the origin of the -l- itself. The traditional theory posits that it comes from the toponymic suffix urj-fin-pro *-la, but more recently it has been proposed that it is in fact a reduction of urj-fin-pro *üli upper, above; thus urj-fin-pro *...n *ül(ä)-nä > urj-fin-pro *...n-l-nä > urj-fin-pro *...lnä > urj-fin-pro *...llä.Aikio, Ante & Ylikoski, Jussi. The origin of the Finnic l-cases. Fenno-Ugrica Suecana Nova Series 15 (2016). pp. 59-158 The initial genitive ending is lost by reduction of a phonotactically impossible sequence, but not in urj-fin-pro *...n-l-en > urj-fin-pro *...ll-en, hence urj-fin-pro *-llën. Pronunciation * -lle dialectal Suffix fi suffix case suffixes Marks the allative case. Usage notes See the appendix on Finnish nominal cases for more information on how the allative case is used. References Further reading Ingrian Etymology From izh urj-fin-pro *-lëk *-llëk. Cognates include fi -lle and et -le. Pronunciation -len Suffix Used to form the allative case; onto Inflection -lleen -llees -llee -llemme -llenne -llesse References 43