See also: jokin'

Finnish

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Alternative forms

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  • jk (abbreviation, chiefly in dictionaries)

Etymology

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Pronoun stem jo- (see joka) + enclitic particle -kin.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈjokin/, [ˈjo̞k̟in]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -okin
  • Syllabification(key): jo‧kin

Pronoun

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jokin

  1. (indefinite) something
    Vaivaako sinua jokin?
    Is something bothering you?
    Nyt tarvittaisiin vasara tai jotain.
    Now we need a hammer or what have you.

Determiner

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jokin

  1. (indefinite) some, one, a
    jollakin tavallasomehow, someway (or another), in some way (or another), (in) one way or another, by some means

Usage notes

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  • In colloquial Finnish, the forms of jokin (used to refer to non-human things in the standard language) and joku (used to refer to humans in the standard language) have merged, especially when used as modifiers (for example joku mies / joku pöytä (some man / some table), joku meistä / joku niistä pöydistä (one of us / one of the tables). In referring to both humans and non-human things, joku is used as a modifier in everyday speech and writing in the nominative singular (joku) and genitive singular (jonkun) and the nominative and accusative plural (jotkut), but the forms of jokin are used in all other grammatical cases to refer to both humans and non-human things. When used alone, not as modifiers, the forms of joku and jokin are however usually still distinguished, even in everyday speech, in the nominative singular/plural, genitive singular and the partitive singular/plural. This is shown by the following examples of colloquial usage:
    joku mies / jollekin miehellesome man / to some man
    joku pöytä / jollekin pöydällesome table / onto some table
    and the following examples of formal (standard language) usage:
    joku mies / jollekulle miehellesome man / to some man
    jokin pöytä / jollekin pöydällesome table / onto some table

Declension

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The case suffixes are regular: only the first part jo- is declined; the enclitic particle -kin doesn't change its form and comes after the case ending. Some cases have parallel forms without the -k-. The instructive and abessive cases are extremely rarely or never used. The sublative, lative, and causative forms are used as adverbs.

Derived terms

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compounds
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See also

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Further reading

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