kirkonkylä
Finnish
Etymology
kirkon (“of church”) + kylä (“village”), calque of Swedish kyrkby, from kyrka (“church”) + by (“village”), cognate with German Kirchdorf, from Kirche (“church”) + Dorf (“village”)
Abbreviations
- kk
Noun
kirkonkylä
- (historical) The village in a rural municipality in which the main church and the vicariate were located.
Declension
| Inflection of kirkonkylä (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | kirkonkylä | kirkonkylät | |
| genitive | kirkonkylän | kirkonkylien | |
| partitive | kirkonkylää | kirkonkyliä | |
| illative | kirkonkylään | kirkonkyliin | |
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | kirkonkylä | kirkonkylät | |
| accusative | nom. | kirkonkylä | kirkonkylät |
| gen. | kirkonkylän | ||
| genitive | kirkonkylän | kirkonkylien kirkonkyläinrare | |
| partitive | kirkonkylää | kirkonkyliä | |
| inessive | kirkonkylässä | kirkonkylissä | |
| elative | kirkonkylästä | kirkonkylistä | |
| illative | kirkonkylään | kirkonkyliin | |
| adessive | kirkonkylällä | kirkonkylillä | |
| ablative | kirkonkylältä | kirkonkyliltä | |
| allative | kirkonkylälle | kirkonkylille | |
| essive | kirkonkylänä | kirkonkylinä | |
| translative | kirkonkyläksi | kirkonkyliksi | |
| instructive | — | kirkonkylin | |
| abessive | kirkonkylättä | kirkonkylittä | |
| comitative | — | kirkonkylineen | |
Usage notes
Formerly the boundaries of municipalities and parishes were the same and usually kirkonkylä was also in other respects the most important village in a municipality by e.g. being the location of municipal offices. Industrialization and railways changed this picture to a certain extent, and the reduction in number of municipalities that has progressively taken place since the 1960's has further eroded this connection. The central township of a municipality is currently officially called kuntakeskus but the term kirkonkylä is frequently used in common language and in place names.