tonttu
Finnish
Etymology
Noun
tonttu
- (folklore) A miniature mythical humanoid creature believed to live in the forests and in or near people's dwellings, similar to an elf or gnome.
- An elf (Santa's helper).
- A fool (person with poor judgment or little intelligence).
Declension
Inflection of tonttu (Kotus type 1*C/valo, tt-t gradation) | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative | tonttu | tontut | |
genitive | tontun | tonttujen | |
partitive | tonttua | tonttuja | |
illative | tonttuun | tonttuihin | |
singular | plural | ||
nominative | tonttu | tontut | |
accusative | nom. | tonttu | tontut |
gen. | tontun | ||
genitive | tontun | tonttujen | |
partitive | tonttua | tonttuja | |
inessive | tontussa | tontuissa | |
elative | tontusta | tontuista | |
illative | tonttuun | tonttuihin | |
adessive | tontulla | tontuilla | |
ablative | tontulta | tontuilta | |
allative | tontulle | tontuille | |
essive | tonttuna | tonttuina | |
translative | tontuksi | tontuiksi | |
abessive | tontutta | tontuitta | |
instructive | — | tontuin | |
comitative | See the possessive forms below. |
Synonyms
- (humanoid in folklore): haltija
- (Santa's helper): joulutonttu
- (fool): hölmö, höntti, pöhkö, pösilö, tomppeli, toope
Compounds
In the folklore the elves were often named according to their habitat. At least the following exist: