Questions & Answers about Poika sai miekan kuninkailta.
How do we get the form kuninkailta from the base word kuningas?
To say 'from the kings', we need two things: the plural marker -i- and the ablative case ending -lta (meaning from a person or surface). We attach these to the plural stem of kuningas, which is kuninkai-. Put it all together and you get kuninkailta.
Why does the stem change from kuningas to kuninkai-?
Words ending in -as (like kuningas) have a singular stem that ends in a long double vowel, making kuninkaa-. When we add the plural marker -i-, it replaces the last vowel. So, kuninkaa- plus -i- becomes the plural stem kuninkai-.
Why is the sword miekan instead of just miekka or the partitive miekkaa?
The sword is the object of the action. Because the boy received one whole sword and the action was completely finished, it takes the genitive-accusative ending -n to become miekan. If it were in the partitive case (miekkaa), it would mean the action was incomplete or he only got part of a sword.
What is the base form of the verb sai?
It comes from the verb saada (to get or to receive). For verbs ending in two of the same vowels, the past tense is formed by dropping one vowel and adding the past tense marker -i. So saada becomes the past tense stem sa-, plus -i, resulting in sai (he got).
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