aiheena

[Satish]

Can someone tell me why aihe is in the essive form in this sentence?

Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena oli sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.

I think the sentence means -Foreclosure of an outsider's property was the subject of the thesis.

Cant you just use aihe???

[Jukka Aho]

Can someone tell me why aihe is in the essive form in this sentence?
Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena oli sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
Cant you just use aihe???

(X = sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus)

Tämän opinnäytetyön aihe on sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> OK. This is just a straightforward statement of a fact: the subject of the thesis is X.

Tämän opinnäytetyön aihe oli sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> Hmm. Why the past tense? Has the subject of the thesis now changed? (It used to be X, but now it's something else, perhaps?)

Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena oli sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> X was the assigned subject... back when the work for writing the thesis started. And probably still is, but we're reminiscing here about where it all started.

Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena on sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> X is (or will be) the assigned / chosen subject.

The essive case form, aiheena, is typically used for referring to assigned, previously chosen or supposed subjects of papers, books, articles, etc. This kind of reference is often done for purposes of meta-discussion: in a context where you're presenting your work to others or criticizing or analyzing someone's work - yours or someone else's - on the grounds of how well it managed to "deliver" on the chosen/assigned/supposed topic...

Compare to:

Tämän päivän tehtävänä on...

[Rob A.]

Can someone tell me why aihe is in the essive form in this sentence?
Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena oli sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
Cant you just use aihe???

(X = sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus)

Tämän opinnäytetyön aihe on sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> OK. This is just a straightforward statement of a fact: the subject of the thesis is X.

Tämän opinnäytetyön aihe oli sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> Hmm. Why the past tense? Has the subject of the thesis now changed? (It used to be X, but now it's something else, perhaps?)

Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena oli sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> X was the assigned subject... back when the work for writing the thesis started. And probably still is, but we're reminiscing here about where it all started.

Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena on sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> X is (or will be) the assigned / chosen subject.

The essive case form, aiheena, is typically used for referring to assigned, previously chosen or supposed subjects of papers, books, articles, etc. This kind of reference is often done for purposes of meta-discussion: in a context where you're presenting your work to others or criticizing or analyzing someone's work - yours or someone else's - on the grounds of how well it managed to "deliver" on the chosen/assigned/supposed topic...

Compare to:

Tämän päivän tehtävänä on...

So if I were to say:

Tämän koirana oli käppänä.... ....would this sentence carry the sense of, "This dog we are talking about was a runt."...?? Clearly if it were just a statement of fact, we would say, "Tämä koira oli käppänä.".

[Aside: Coincidentally, käpänä is not in an essive form, it's in the nominative. The essive would be käppänänä...Probably one could say, "Tämän käppänänä oli koira."...??.. ]

[Satish]

Tämän opinnäytetyön aihe on sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> OK. This is just a straightforward statement of a fact: the subject of the thesis is X.

Tämän opinnäytetyön aihe oli sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> Hmm. Why the past tense? Has the subject of the thesis now changed? (It used to be X, but now it's something else, perhaps?)

Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena oli sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> X was the assigned subject... back when the work for writing the thesis started. And probably still is, but we're reminiscing here about where it all started.

Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena on sivullisen omaisuuden ulosmittaus.
-> X is (or will be) the assigned / chosen subject.

The essive case form, aiheena, is typically used for referring to assigned, previously chosen or supposed subjects of papers, books, articles, etc. This kind of reference is often done for purposes of meta-discussion: in a context where you're presenting your work to others or criticizing or analyzing someone's work - yours or someone else's - on the grounds of how well it managed to "deliver" on the chosen/assigned/supposed topic...

Thanks! I really do like your step-wise approach starting from the most simple form. Mental note to self on this one!...

[Upphew]

So if I were to say:

Tämän koirana oli käppänä.... ....would this sentence carry the sense of, "This dog we are talking about was a runt."...?? Clearly if it were just a statement of fact, we would say, "Tämä koira oli käppänä.".

[Aside: Coincidentally, käpänä is not in an essive form, it's in the nominative. The essive would be käppänänä...Probably one could say, "Tämän käppänänä oli koira."...??.. ]

Käppänä = Miniature Schnauzer -> This dog we are talking about was being as a Miniature Schnauzer (and presumably it is of other breed, it's just acting/looking/being one now)

"Tämä koira oli käppänä." = This dog was Miniature Schnauzer

"Tämän käppänänä oli koira." = Dog was acting as its/his/her Miniature Schnauzer

[Satish]

"Tämän käppänänä oli koira." = Dog was acting as its/his/her Miniature Schnauzer

What is the reason for using Tämä in this sentence? I thought Hänen or Sen would have been used for its/his/her.

[Jukka Aho]

Käppänä = Miniature Schnauzer -> This dog we are talking about was being as a Miniature Schnauzer (and presumably it is of other breed, it's just acting/looking/being one now)

Miniature Schnauzer? Is this some curious dog breeder slang? To me, käppänä is a mildly derogatory word used to refer to an old coot of small stature. The word could either be used alone or as a part of a compound word. (Ukonkäppänä or äijänkäppänä, for example... both of which are in the nominative in case someone would be wondering about that.)

[Rob A.]

Käppänä = Miniature Schnauzer -> This dog we are talking about was being as a Miniature Schnauzer (and presumably it is of other breed, it's just acting/looking/being one now)

Miniature Schnauzer? Is this some curious dog breeder slang? To me, käppänä is a mildly derogatory word used to refer to an old coot of small stature. The word could either be used alone or as a part of a compound word. (Ukonkäppänä or äijänkäppänä, for example... both of which are in the nominative in case someone would be wondering about that.)

So maybe this would be a bit more precise:

Tämä kääpiösnautserinä oli koira. ...which I think would translate as, "The dog was acting as this Miniature Schnauzer."

And I suppose this would not be a typically expected Finnish word order ...Better might be: Koira oli tämä kääpiösnautserinä. ...meaning something like the dog was acting, or was in the role of...this (...a particular...) ...Miniature Schnauzer."....the implication being, of course, that the dog in question is not actually a Schnauzer, but is acting like one...whatever that might involve.... I think a more regular word order would make this much clearer to a non-native speaker.

And your Ukonkäppänä link lead to some funny stuff....

Such as this exchange in the Suomi24 forum:

KYLMÄÄ
Lapin ukko8.7.2009 00:07
Olen yli 60 vuotias ukonkäppänä ja olen ikäni asunut inarissa, enkä IKINÄ muista näin kylmää kesää, jokunen päivä sitten tuli TV:stä ohjelma jossa kerrottiin kuinka ilmastonmuutoksen seurauksena kesistä tulee erittäin kuumat......

Hohhoijaa
eqvqev8.7.2009 00:24
Et siis taida ymmärtää mitä eroa on säällä ja ilmastolla, saatikka paikallisella säällä ja globaalilla ilmastolla.

Yritäpäs ukonkäppänä ymmärtää, että Suomi on hyvin pieni osa koko maailmasta.....

...and this in Talous Sanomat

....a reader's response to Kanerva's visit to Washington several years ago (....about half way down ...search on käppänä)...:


....Eipä ole suurtakaan merkitystä, mitä joku käppänä Suomesta käy Washingtonissa sanomassa. ....

[Rob A.]

"Tämän käppänänä oli koira." = Dog was acting as its/his/her Miniature Schnauzer

What is the reason for using Tämä in this sentence? I thought Hänen or Sen would have been used for its/his/her.

...I think the closest English translation would be something like: "The dog was acting as this runt/Schnauzer/or whatever"... Written as: Koira oli tämän käppänänä. probably makes it clearer...???...

[Upphew]

Miniature Schnauzer? Is this some curious dog breeder slang?

Käppänä, rotikka, bullero, pitti, saku/sakemanni, mäyris, staffi, dobberi... I wouldn't call them breeder slang, maybe just a dog owner/fan slang.

[Jukka Aho]

So maybe this would be a bit more precise:

Tämä kääpiösnautserinä oli koira. ...which I think would translate as, "The dog was acting as this Miniature Schnauzer."

Hmm... isn't that backwards when compared to the original example? The original sentence was posted to a discussion thread on a dog owners' forum. The title of that thread is "Käppänäbongaus televisiossa ja elokuvissa".

käppänä = generally, an old coot of (possibly) small stature, but in this context, a slang term for the dog breed called kääpiösnautseri, known in English as the miniature schnauzer (the Finnish name for this breed translates literally as "dwarf schnauzer")

bongaus, bongaaminen = a slang term for bird-watching

bongata = "to bird-watch". By extension, this term is also popularly used for other superficially similar "watching" or spotting activities, such as spotting car license plates or different makes and models of cars in general (rekisterikilpien bongaus, autobongaus), trainspotting (junabongaus), girl-watching (tyttöjen bongaus), etc. Or just as a general verb referring to unexpectedly spotting something noteworthy. "Bongasin päivän lehdestä tällaisen erikoistarjouksen."

So, "Käppänäbongaus televisiossa ja elokuvissa" would, in the given context, translate as "Spotting miniature schnauzers in television and movies".

The actual message posted to that thread said:

"Mullan alla" tv-sarjassa yhdessä jaksossa oli myös käppänä. Fisherin-veljesten kuorolaulua harrastava kaveri oli kuoronsa jäsenen bileissä ja tämän koirana oli käppänä. Ja jos sitä koiraa tuijotti suoraan silmiin, teki se tarpeensa välittömästi sisälle...

"There was a miniature schnauzer also in one episode of the TV show "Six Feet Under". A friend of the Fisher brothers who, as his hobby, sang in a choir, attended to a party thrown by his choirmate who had a miniature schnauzer as his dog ["...for a dog"?]. And if you stared that dog directly into his eyes he would immediately do his business indoors."

And I suppose this would not be a typically expected Finnish word order ...Better might be: Koira oli tämä kääpiösnautserinä. ...meaning something like the dog was acting, or was in the role of...this (...a particular...) ...Miniature Schnauzer."....the implication being, of course, that the dog in question is not actually a Schnauzer, but is acting like one...

If you want that specific interpretation (although this example is a bit strange), you would usually say something like "koira toimi kääpiösnautserina" ("was acting/functioning as a...") or simply "koira oli kääpiösnautserina" (which can mean the same or sometimes be more like "the dog was (going) all 'miniature schnauzer'".) The word tämä in your example does not serve any purpose and appears strange and jarring.

[Rob A.]

Thanks

...käppänä = generally, an old coot of (possibly) small stature, but in this context, a slang term for the dog breed called kääpiösnautseri, known in English as the miniature schnauzer (the Finnish name for this breed translates literally as "dwarf schnauzer")

....and when I tried to read the Finnish wiki article on Kääpiösnautseri....I found it it particularly difficult...then I realized it was written in the Finnish equivalent of "dog-person" talk... reading this stuff in English is tough enough.......why do they call these smaller dogs, "miniature"....???... The image that first comes to mind is a dog the size of a "matchbox" toy....[A rhetorical question....]

....If you want that specific interpretation (although this example is a bit strange), you would usually say something like "koira toimi kääpiösnautserina" ("was acting/functioning as a...") or simply "koira oli kääpiösnautserina" (which can mean the same or sometimes be more like "the dog was (going) all 'miniature schnauzer'".) The word tämä in your example does not serve any purpose and appears strange and jarring.

Ymmärrän...

How about this?....:
Viime yönä oli kirkas ja täysikuu.....Naapuri oli ihmissutena!....

The essive case and two of its uses...

[Edit: ...and just to create a bit of tunnelma...hmmm...I wonder if this noun comes from a frequentative verb..???...]

Ihmissusi Lontoossa....

[Upphew]

How about this?....:
Viime yönä oli kirkas ja täysikuu.....Naapuri oli ihmissutena!....

Either Viime yönä oli kirkasta ja täysikuu or Viime yö oli kirkas ja oli täysikuu
Your example leaves the question hanging: what was clear?

Naapuri oli ihmissutena... that implies to me that there is time when he is not werewolf and I thought that they were werewolves all the time, they just don't look like one sometimes.

[Rob A.]

How about this?....:
Viime yönä oli kirkas ja täysikuu.....Naapuri oli ihmissutena!....

Either Viime yönä oli kirkasta ja täysikuu or Viime yö oli kirkas ja oli täysikuu
Your example leaves the question hanging: what was clear?

Thanks....I can see that my example is awkward...the English equivalent is awkward as well...

Now, why does changing the adjective, kirkas, from the nominative form to the partitive change this?... Is it simply because if one refers to the night being clear, there is an ongoing sense, and therefore any adjective describing the condition of the night would have to be in the partitive? If the word, taivas were introduced, then I suppose the nominative form could be used...?....Viime yönä taivas oli kirkas ja oli täysikuu... ...I suppose there is no easy way to write this sentence such that the verb, oli is used only once...

Naapuri oli ihmissutena... that implies to me that there is time when he is not werewolf and I thought that they were werewolves all the time, they just don't look like one sometimes.

Yes...I suppose so...but how about a little "poetic licence"?... How else could I use the word in its essive form?...

But, yes,...ennen ihmissutta, aina ihmisutta...kunnes joku puukotta häntä [Aside:...I wonder if I'm supposed to use the partitive form of hän ...if not then I've used the word, "tail"....] ...hopean krusifiksi...

To be precise, I suppose the correct verb is "shapeshifted"...and wiktionary gives a Finnish translation for this ....muuttaa muoto, but nothing for the noun, "shapeshifter"... maybe, "muotomuutoja"..?... So a precise description of the event might be:

Naapuri muuttuia muoto ihmissudelle/ihmissudeksi.....?...but, even to me this sounds stilted, and not very "poetic"...

[Upphew]

Viime yönä taivas oli kirkas ja oli täysikuu... ...I suppose there is no easy way to write this sentence such that the verb, oli is used only once...

Viime yönä taivas oli kirkas ja täysikuu valaisi maiseman... naapurin ihmissusi ulvoi saunan takana, sillä tiesi Pekan olevan tarkka haulikkonsa kanssa.

Naapuri oli ihmissutena... that implies to me that there is time when he is not werewolf and I thought that they were werewolves all the time, they just don't look like one sometimes.

Yes...I suppose so...but how about a little "poetic licence"?... How else could I use the word in its essive form?...

Well, you can't always just translate if you go poetic... improvise.

But, yes,...ennen ihmissutta, aina ihmisutta...kunnes joku puukotta häntä [Aside:...I wonder if I'm supposed to use the partitive form of hän ...if not then I've used the word, "tail"....] ...hopean krusifiksi...

Kunnes joku puukottaa häntä hopeisella krusifiksilla? Or maybe Pekka lataa vanhan Valmetin äiteen pöytähopeilla ja antaa naapurin mekastavalle ihmissudelle ulvomisen aihetta.

To be precise, I suppose the correct verb is "shapeshifted"...and wiktionary gives a Finnish translation for this ....muuttaa muoto, but nothing for the noun, "shapeshifter"... maybe, "muotomuutoja"..?... So a precise description of the event might be:

Naapuri muuttuia muoto ihmissudelle/ihmissudeksi.....?...but, even to me this sounds stilted, and not very "poetic"...

Kuun noustua naapurin ihmissusi muutti muotoaan ja karvaa alkoi työntyä hihansuusta... tämän nähdessään Pekan käsi hakeutui kohti papan vanhaa haulikkoa