-nsa

See also: nsa, NSA, and -nsä

Finnish

Alternative forms

-an

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *-nsak, from Proto-Uralic *-nsa[t/k]. In Finnic, a third-person plural oblique possessive suffix (i.e. for a third-person plural possessor and all cases but the nominative singular). Third-person singular and plural possessive forms merged quite early on.

Adopted in western dialects as the general third-person possessive suffix then, since the non-oblique form *-sak would have lenited to *-hV(k), which was avoided.^[1]

Cognate with Erzya -(н)зо (-(n)zo), -ст (-st).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /-nsɑˣ/, [-ns̠ɑ̝(ʔ)]

Suffix

-nsa (front vowel harmony variant -nsä, linguistic notation -nsA) (to the (strong) vowel stem; the final -n of the genitive and illative singular and plural or the -t of the nominative plural is omitted)

(possessive) Third-person possessive suffix, used with the genitive forms of the third-person pronouns hän sg (hänen) and he pl (heidän): his, her; their (only of people); its (in some cases; see the usage notes below)
hänen kirjansa ― his/her book

hänen äänensä ― his/her voice

heidän kirjansa ― their book

Kalle luki hänen kirjansa. ― Kalle read his/her book. [The book is not by or owned by Kalle, but some other person mentioned before.]
1. (possessive) Third-person reflexive possessive suffix.
  Kalle luki kirjansa. ― Kalle read his (own) book. [The book is by or owned by Kalle himself.]
2. (possessive) Appended to a postposition, when it modifies a word in the genitive case and a third-person personal pronoun is used: him, her; them (only of people)
  hänen takanansa ― behind him/her
  
  heidän edessänsä ― in front of them
3. (possessive) Used in a participle structure replacing an "että" clause, preceded by a verb expressing e.g. telling, claiming, asserting, confirming, thinking, wish, desire, seeming, when the clauses have the same subject "he", "she" or "they" (only of people); appended to the active present participle in genitive singular when the action is concurrent with the main clause.
  He sanoivat saavansa rahaa.
  They said that they were receiving money.
4. (possessive) Used in a participle structure replacing an "että" clause, preceded by a verb expressing e.g. telling, claiming, asserting, confirming, thinking, wish, desire, seeming, when the clauses have the same subject "he", "she" or "they" (only of people); appended to the active past participle in genitive singular when the said/alleged (etc.) action antedates the main clause.
  Hän väitti saaneensa rahaa.
  She claimed to have received money.
5. (possessive) Used in a shortened sentence expressing concurrent actions when the clauses have the same subject in the third person, appended to the inessive of the active second infinitive.
  Saadessansa rahaa hän kuuli laukauksen ulkoa.
  (While) receiving money, he heard a shot from outside.
  or saadessaan, see the usage notes below
6. (possessive) Used in a shortened sentence expressing subsequent actions when the clauses have the same subject in the third person, appended to the partitive of the passive past participle singular.
  Saatuansa rahaa hän kuuli laukauksen ulkoa.
  (After) having received / After receiving money, she heard a shot from outside.
  or saatuaan, see the usage notes below
7. (possessive) Used in a final shortened sentence expressing "in order to do" when the clauses have the same subject in the third person, appended to the long first infinitive.
  Saadaksensa enemmän rahaa he vaihtoivat työpaikkaa.
  (In order) to get more money, they changed their job.
  or saadakseen, see the usage notes below
8. (possessive) Used in some adverbs that include back vowels, when the clause has the subject in the third person.
  Hän oli hyvin pahoillansa siitä.
  S/he was very sorry about it.
  or pahoillaan, see the usage notes below
9. (possessive) Always appended to a noun in the comitative case when the clause has the subject in the third person.
  Hän käveli kirjoinensa ovesta ulos.
  S/he walked out the door with his/her books.
  or kirjoineen, see the usage notes below

Usage notes

In standard Finnish, even with the possessive suffix -nsa, the genitive forms of the corresponding personal pronouns hän and he before the main word can never be omitted, in order to clarify whether there is one owner or more.
In colloquial Finnish, the suffix (like all possessive suffixes) is rarely used and only the genitive forms hänen and heidän (or their colloquial or dialectal variants) are used before the main word.
A shorter form -Vn (-an, -än, -en) exists, but it can only be used with certain conditions (see that entry for more). The short form can always be replaced with -nsa, but not necessarily the other way around. Both are accepted in Standard Finnish, but the short form is much more common when allowed. The short form is common, for instance, with adverbs requiring a possessive suffix:

Examples of short third-person possessive forms

Singular: (iness.) kirjassansa → kirjassaan; (elat.) kirjastansa → kirjastaan; (adess.) kirjallansa → kirjallaan; (allat.) kirjallensa → kirjalleen; (ablat.) kirjaltansa → kirjaltaan; (trans.) kirjaksensa → kirjakseen; (ess.) kirjanansa → kirjanaan; (abess.) kirjattansa → kirjattaan
Plural: (partit.) kirjojansa → kirjojaan; (iness.) kirjoissansa → kirjoissaan; (elat.) kirjoistansa → kirjoistaan; (adess.) kirjoillansa → kirjoillaan; (allat.) kirjoillensa → kirjoilleen; (ablat.) kirjoiltansa → kirjoiltaan; (trans.) kirjoiksensa → kirjoikseen; (ess.) kirjoinansa → kirjoinaan; (abess.) kirjoittansa → kirjoittaan; (comit.) kirjoinensa → kirjoineen

The combination of the personal pronoun genitive hänen or heidän and -nsa can be both the subject and the object of the clause:
- Hänen kirjansa on pitkäveteinen.
  Her/His book is boring.
- Oletko jo lukenut hänen kirjansa?
  Have you already read her/his book?
- However, if the word that acts as the possessor of the main word is anything else than hänen or heidän, the suffix -nsa cannot be appended if the main word is the subject of the clause:
- Tuolla on lintu. Sen sulat ovat valkoisia.
  There's a bird there. Its feathers are white.
  No possessive suffix may be added to sulat, because the possessor is sen, not hänen or heidän.
- Lintu sukii sulkiansa.
  The bird is preening its feathers.
  Here, the possessive suffix is present, because feathers are the object in the sentence.
The shortened sentences — except for the participial structures — pertain mainly to standard Finnish, not to colloquial Finnish. It is also to be noticed that the shortened clauses are never separated from the main clauses with a comma.
The participial uses, in particular sense 4, can be compared to the Latin accusativus cum infinitivo (e.g. se dicit facere).

Derived terms

toisensa (“each other, one another”)

References

^ Petri Kallio (2021) “Kaksikko aina kaunihimpi? Itämerensuomalaisten possessiivisuffiksien taustaa”, in Taina Saarikivi, Janne Saarikivi, editors, Turhan tiedon kirja: Tutkimuksista pois jätettyjä sivuja (Kirjokansi; 291) (in Finnish), pages 157-173

Anagrams

san.

Sidamo

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /-nsa/

Determiner

-nsa

their

References

Kazuhiro Kawachi (2007) A grammar of Sidaama (Sidamo), a Cushitic language of Ethiopia, page 383

[1] Petri Kallio (2021) “Kaksikko aina kaunihimpi? Itämerensuomalaisten possessiivisuffiksien taustaa”, in Taina Saarikivi, Janne Saarikivi, editors, Turhan tiedon kirja: Tutkimuksista pois jätettyjä sivuja (Kirjokansi; 291) (in Finnish), pages 157-173

[1]

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person m	3rd person f
Singular	-ʼya	-kki	-si	-se
Plural	-nke	-ʼne	-nsa