Breakdown of Maapallon pisin joki alkaa korkeimmasta vuoristosta.
alkaa
to start
joki
river
pitkä
long, tall
korkea
high, tall
maapallo
the globe
vuoristo
the mountain range
Questions & Answers about Maapallon pisin joki alkaa korkeimmasta vuoristosta.
How is the word korkeimmasta (from the highest) formed?
It comes from the adjective korkea (high). The basic dictionary form of the superlative is korkein (highest). However, to add a case ending like the elative -sta (from), the stem changes to -impa-. Because adding -sta closes the syllable, consonant gradation kicks in and forces the weak grade, changing -mp- to -mm-. This gives us the weak stem korkeimma- + -sta = korkeimmasta.
Wait, if the superlative stem is -impa- or -imma-, why is longest just pisin?
pisin is the dictionary form (nominative case) of the superlative for pitkä (long). The word pitkä is highly irregular, so its basic superlative form doesn't look like a standard adjective. But if we needed to put pisin into a case, like from the longest river, it would follow the exact same stem rules: pisimmästä joesta.
Why does the sentence use the elative case -sta (out of) for korkeimmasta vuoristosta instead of the ablative -lta (from the surface)?
The verb alkaa (to begin) requires the elative case (-sta or -stä) when talking about where something physically originates. You can think of the river as starting out of the mountain range, rather than just bouncing off it.
What is the difference between vuori and vuoristo?
vuori means a single mountain. The suffix -sto or -stö is used to create a word for a collection or group of things. So vuoristo means a mountain range (a group of mountains), just like kirja (book) becomes kirjasto (library, a collection of books).
Learn Maapallon pisin joki alkaa korkeimmasta vuoristosta and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free