Breakdown of Elinikä ei ole kaksinkertaistunut, mutta se on pitkä.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
mutta
but
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
pitkä
long, tall
elinikä
life expectancy
kaksinkertaistua
to double
Questions & Answers about Elinikä ei ole kaksinkertaistunut, mutta se on pitkä.
How do we break down the long word kaksinkertaistunut?
It is built in stages. It starts with the number kaksi (two). Adding the suffix -nkertainen creates the adjective kaksinkertainen (double/twofold). To turn this into a verb meaning "to become double", Finnish adds the suffix -stua, making kaksinkertaistua. Finally, it takes the NUT participle form (kaksinkertaistunut) because it is part of the negative perfect tense (ei ole ...).
Since this lesson is about fraction words like kolmannes (a third), does "a double" work the same way?
No, fractions and multipliers behave differently. Fractions use the suffix -nes to form nouns (like neljännes for a quarter). Multipliers instead use the adjective suffix -nkertainen (like kaksinkertainen). When describing proportions changing over time, Finnish strongly prefers turning these multipliers into verbs, as seen in this sentence with kaksinkertaistua.
Could I use kaksinkertaistanut instead of kaksinkertaistunut here?
No, because that changes the verb from intransitive to transitive. Kaksinkertaistunut comes from kaksinkertaistua (to double itself / to become double). If you used kaksinkertaistanut, it would be from kaksinkertaistaa (to double something), which would require an active subject deliberately doubling the life expectancy.
Does elinikä literally mean "organ age"?
It looks like it, because elin by itself is the Finnish word for "organ". However, both the noun and the prefix elin- stem from the verb elää (to live). In compound words, the prefix elin- usually refers to "life" or "living". Therefore, elinikä translates literally to "life age" (lifespan or life expectancy).
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