Finnish

(index al)

Verb

alkaa

1. (transitive, auxiliary, + infinitive/+ illative of 3rd infinitive) To begin (to do something), start (doing something).
2. (intransitive) To initiate, set in, be initiated, originate, be originated, take its origin.

Conjugation

Usage notes

• Historically, the verb's concatenation depended on geography: alkaa tehdä (alkaa + infinitive) was dominant in Eastern dialects and alkaa tekemään (alkaa + illative of third infinitive) in Western dialects. However, as Finnish went through several reforms in the 1800s with the goal of including Eastern characteristics in the then-Western-dominated standard language, alkaa + infinitive became standard. The Western usage persisted in colloquial contexts and by late 1900s became increasingly equal with the Eastern one. Eventually in February 2014, the Institute for the Languages of Finland formally accepted both the forms.^[1]

Derived terms

• nouns: alku

Related terms

• aloittaa

Anagrams

• kalaa, laaka

References

1. ↑ STT. (5 February 2014) "Kielitoimisto taipui: Tämä ei ole enää virhe". Iltalehti. Accessed 5 February 2014.

Votic

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *alkadak.

Verb

alkaa ‎(first-person singular present algan, first-person singular past alkõn)

1. to begin, to start

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

References

• "alkaa" in Vadja keele sõnaraamat