selvä
Finnish
Etymology
From Proto-Finnic *selvä. Related to Ingrian selvä, Karelian selvä and Votic selve.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈselʋæ/, [ˈs̠e̞lʋæ]
- Rhymes: -elʋæ
- Syllabification(key): sel‧vä
Adjective
selvä (comparative selvempi, superlative selvin)
- clear (primarily of abstract concepts; see usage notes)
- free (unobstructed)
- sober (not under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicating substances)
- distinct
- plain
- obvious
- unmistakable
- lucid
- evident
Usage notes
The words selvä and selkeä are partly synonymous, but there are some distinctive senses as well. A good article (in Finnish) can be found on the issue on the Kotus website. To sum up, selkeä is used of things which have an observable structure, e.g. selkeä taivas (“clear sky”) whereas selvä is generally used in abstract contexts, e.g. tehdä selväksi (“to make clear”). There is a wide overlapping area, e.g. a thought may be both selkeä and selvä. Sometimes the difference is a matter of convention, e.g. reitti on selvä means that a route is clear of obstacles and reitti on selkeä means that the route is easy to grasp because it is straightforward or well marked.
Declension
| Inflection of selvä (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | selvä | selvät | |
| genitive | selvän | selvien | |
| partitive | selvää | selviä | |
| illative | selvään | selviin | |
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | selvä | selvät | |
| accusative | nom. | selvä | selvät |
| gen. | selvän | ||
| genitive | selvän | selvien selväinrare | |
| partitive | selvää | selviä | |
| inessive | selvässä | selvissä | |
| elative | selvästä | selvistä | |
| illative | selvään | selviin | |
| adessive | selvällä | selvillä | |
| ablative | selvältä | selviltä | |
| allative | selvälle | selville | |
| essive | selvänä | selvinä | |
| translative | selväksi | selviksi | |
| instructive | — | selvin | |
| abessive | selvättä | selvittä | |
| comitative | — | selvine | |
| Possessive forms of selvä (type koira) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rare. Only used with substantive adjectives. | ||
| possessor | singular | plural |
| 1st person | selväni | selvämme |
| 2nd person | selväsi | selvänne |
| 3rd person | selvänsä | |
Synonyms
- (sober): raitis
- (evident): ilmeinen, kiistaton
- selkeä (see usage notes)
Derived terms
- adverbs: selvästi
- nouns: selvyys
- ottaa selvää = to find out, determine
- saada selville = to find out, get to know, learn, unearth, uncover
- verbs: selvitä
Interjection
selvä!
- all right (used to affirm, indicate agreement, or consent).
- Selvä, mennäänpä sitten.
- All right, let's go then.
- (radio) roger!
Anagrams
- sävel