-nen

-nen

1. Forms diminutives nouns or terms expressing affection.

   ‎lapsi (“child”) + ‎-nen → ‎lapsonen (“kid”)

   ‎pala (“piece”) + ‎-nen → ‎palanen (“small piece”)

   ‎kulta (“gold, dear”) + ‎-nen → ‎kultanen (“darling”)

   ‎tuuli (“wind”) + ‎-nen → ‎tuulonen (“gentle wind, breeze”)

   ‎Ukko (“the God of Thunder”) + ‎-nen → ‎ukkonen (“thunder”)

2. Forms surnames of association, by now devoid of meaning.

   ‎virta (“river”) + ‎-nen → ‎Virtanen

• Surnames ending in -nen were first recorded in Savo and Karelia in early 16th century, with -nen affixed to nicknames (Korhonen) and vernacular forms of given names (Heikkinen). In the 19th century surnames were required of all Finns, and many new names were created by adding -nen to topographic terms (Ahonen) and to words describing natural phenomena (Aaltonen).
• 38% of Finns had a surname ending in -nen in 1985.
• Should not be confused with -inen with which it may be conflated in colloquial speech and some dialects. For example, keltanen may appear to be kelta + -nen, but is actually a colloquial form of keltainen, itself kelta + -inen.

Back vowel harmony declension (includes vowels a, o, u)

Front vowel harmony declension (includes vowels ä, ö, y)

• -inen
• -lainen
• -llinen
• -mainen

• Sirkka Paikkala: Se tavallinen Virtanen, SKS 959 (2004), →ISBN

• -nne

-nen

1. Rōmaji transcription of ねん