Breakdown of Hän tervehtii meitä avoimin sylin.
hän
he / she
me
we
tervehtiä
to greet
avoin
open (adjective, attributive)
syli
lap
Questions & Answers about Hän tervehtii meitä avoimin sylin.
Why do both avoimin and sylin end in -in?
They are in the instructive case, which is almost always used in the plural. It describes the instrument or manner in which an action is done, often translating to 'with' or 'by means of'. In this fixed phrase, the adjective avoin (open) takes the instructive case to agree with the noun syli (lap/embrace).
The dictionary form for 'open' is already avoin. Is avoimin just a typo?
It is not a typo, though it looks tricky! The base form is indeed avoin, but its stem is avoime-. To make the plural instructive, you use the plural stem avoimi- and add the instructive ending -n, resulting in avoimin.
I thought syli meant 'lap'. Why is it translated as 'arms' here?
Syli refers broadly to the space formed by a person's chest and arms. When sitting, it translates to 'lap', but in the context of hugging or welcoming someone, it means 'embrace' or 'arms'. The idiom avoimin sylin directly corresponds to the English 'with open arms'.
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