Questions & Answers about Hän istuu aina nilkat ristissä.
Why is nilkat in the nominative case instead of being an object?
This sentence uses an absolute phrase of state to translate the English 'with something' structure. In this specific Finnish structure, the noun representing the body part is always in the basic nominative case. Finnish doesn't use a preposition like 'with' here; the nominative noun paired directly with a location word automatically creates this meaning.
Why is ristissä (in a cross) in the inessive case?
Finnish frequently uses the inessive case (the -ssa/-ssä ending) to describe a static physical position or state. English uses the past participle 'crossed', but Finnish literally says 'ankles in a cross'. Because she is already sitting in this static state, we use the inessive rather than a dynamic movement case like the illative.
Shouldn't there be a possessive suffix, like nilkkansa ristissä?
No, you should leave the possessive suffix out here. When an absolute phrase refers to the subject's own body parts, Finnish normally drops both the possessive pronoun and the possessive suffix because ownership is already completely obvious from the context of the sentence.
Does this 'nominative + local case' structure only apply to body parts?
While it is extremely common with body parts (like kädet taskussa for 'hands in pockets'), you can also use it for inanimate objects that are in the subject's immediate control. For example, you could say Hän seisoi sateessa sateenvarjo kädessä to mean 'She stood in the rain with an umbrella in her hand'.
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