alkaa

See also: älkää

Finnish

Etymology

From , from Proto-Uralic *alka- (“beginning”). Cognates include Mansi, Estonian algama.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑlkɑːˣ/, [ˈɑ̝lkɑ̝ː(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -ɑlkɑː
• Syllabification^(key): al‧kaa

Verb

alkaa

1. (transitive, auxiliary, + infinitive/+ illative of 3rd infinitive) to begin (to do something), start (doing something)

   Hän alkoi itkeä.

   He started to cry.

   Hän alkaa olla väsynyt.

   She started to get tired.

2. (intransitive) to initiate, set in, be initiated, originate, be originated, take its origin

   Tulevaisuus alkaa tänään.

   The future begins today.

   Polku alkaa tästä.

   The trail starts here.

Usage notes

• Historically, the verb collocation depended on geography: alkaa tehdä (alkaa + infinitive) was dominant in Eastern dialects and alkaa tekemään (alkaa + illative of third infinitive) in Western dialects. However, as Finnish went through several reforms in the 1800s with the goal of including Eastern characteristics in the then-Western-dominated standard language, alkaa + infinitive became standard. The Western usage persisted in colloquial contexts and by late 1900s became increasingly equal with the Eastern one. Eventually in February 2014, the Institute for the Languages of Finland formally accepted both forms.

Conjugation

Inflection of alkaa (Kotus type 56*D/kaivaa, k-∅ gradation)
indicative mood
present tense				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		alan	en ala	1st sing.	olen alkanut	en ole alkanut
2nd sing.		alat	et ala	2nd sing.	olet alkanut	et ole alkanut
3rd sing.		alkaa	ei ala	3rd sing.	on alkanut	ei ole alkanut
1st plur.		alamme	emme ala	1st plur.	olemme alkaneet	emme ole alkaneet
2nd plur.		alatte	ette ala	2nd plur.	olette alkaneet	ette ole alkaneet
3rd plur.		alkavat	eivät ala	3rd plur.	ovat alkaneet	eivät ole alkaneet
passive		aletaan	ei aleta	passive	on alettu	ei ole alettu
past tense				pluperfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		aloin	en alkanut	1st sing.	olin alkanut	en ollut alkanut
2nd sing.		aloit	et alkanut	2nd sing.	olit alkanut	et ollut alkanut
3rd sing.		alkoi	ei alkanut	3rd sing.	oli alkanut	ei ollut alkanut
1st plur.		aloimme	emme alkaneet	1st plur.	olimme alkaneet	emme olleet alkaneet
2nd plur.		aloitte	ette alkaneet	2nd plur.	olitte alkaneet	ette olleet alkaneet
3rd plur.		alkoivat	eivät alkaneet	3rd plur.	olivat alkaneet	eivät olleet alkaneet
passive		alettiin	ei alettu	passive	oli alettu	ei ollut alettu
conditional mood
present				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		alkaisin	en alkaisi	1st sing.	olisin alkanut	en olisi alkanut
2nd sing.		alkaisit	et alkaisi	2nd sing.	olisit alkanut	et olisi alkanut
3rd sing.		alkaisi	ei alkaisi	3rd sing.	olisi alkanut	ei olisi alkanut
1st plur.		alkaisimme	emme alkaisi	1st plur.	olisimme alkaneet	emme olisi alkaneet
2nd plur.		alkaisitte	ette alkaisi	2nd plur.	olisitte alkaneet	ette olisi alkaneet
3rd plur.		alkaisivat	eivät alkaisi	3rd plur.	olisivat alkaneet	eivät olisi alkaneet
passive		alettaisiin	ei alettaisi	passive	olisi alettu	ei olisi alettu
imperative mood
present				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		—	—	1st sing.	—	—
2nd sing.		ala	älä ala	2nd sing.	—	—
3rd sing.		alkakoon	älköön alkako	3rd sing.	olkoon alkanut	älköön olko alkanut
1st plur.		alkakaamme	älkäämme alkako	1st plur.	—	—
2nd plur.		alkakaa	älkää alkako	2nd plur.	—	—
3rd plur.		alkakoot	älkööt alkako	3rd plur.	olkoot alkaneet	älkööt olko alkaneet
passive		alettakoon	älköön alettako	passive	olkoon alettu	älköön olko alettu
potential mood
present				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		alkanen	en alkane	1st sing.	lienen alkanut	en liene alkanut
2nd sing.		alkanet	et alkane	2nd sing.	lienet alkanut	et liene alkanut
3rd sing.		alkanee	ei alkane	3rd sing.	lienee alkanut	ei liene alkanut
1st plur.		alkanemme	emme alkane	1st plur.	lienemme alkaneet	emme liene alkaneet
2nd plur.		alkanette	ette alkane	2nd plur.	lienette alkaneet	ette liene alkaneet
3rd plur.		alkanevat	eivät alkane	3rd plur.	lienevät alkaneet	eivät liene alkaneet
passive		alettaneen	ei alettane	passive	lienee alettu	ei liene alettu
Nominal forms
infinitives				participles
		active	passive		active	passive
1st		alkaa		present	alkava	alettava
long 1st1		Possessive forms Person sing. plur. 1st alkaakseni alkaaksemme 2nd alkaaksesi alkaaksenne 3rd alkaakseen alkaaksensa		past	alkanut	alettu
2nd	inessive2	alkaessa	alettaessa	agent3	alkama
		Possessive forms Person sing. plur. 1st alkaessani alkaessamme 2nd alkaessasi alkaessanne 3rd alkaessaan alkaessansa		negative	alkamaton
	instructive	alkaen	—	1) Used only with a possessive suffix. 2) Usually with a possessive suffix (active only). 3) Usually with a possessive suffix. Not used with intransitive verbs. Distinct from nouns with the -ma suffix and third infinitive forms. 4) Some uses of the verbal noun are called the 'fourth infinitive' by certain sources (more details). * The third-person singular indicative form alkaa does not exhibit final gemination, unlike the first infinitive (the lemma form), even though they are spelled identically.
3rd	inessive	alkamassa	—
	elative	alkamasta	—
	illative	alkamaan	—
	adessive	alkamalla	—
	abessive	alkamatta	—
	instructive	alkaman	alettaman
4th4	verbal noun	alkaminen
5th1		Possessive forms Person sing. plur. 1st alkamaisillani alkamaisillamme 2nd alkamaisillasi alkamaisillanne 3rd alkamaisillaan alkamaisillansa

Derived terms

• nouns: alku

Related terms

• aloittaa

Anagrams

• kalaa, laaka

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Votic

Etymology

From .

Verb

alkaa

1. to begin, to start

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

References

• Hallap, V., Adler, E., Grünberg, S., Leppik, M. (2012) Vadja keele sõnaraamat [A dictionary of the Votic language], 2nd edition, Tallinn