# 'Full' : prefix in Finnish?



## ThomasK

I am interested in Finnish, and about to start learning it, but this is only a question. You seem to have a lot of 'full-' words, starting with täysi/ täyde. The former seems like a 'autonomous word' and produces compounds rather, but the other one reminds me of a prefix. Is it ? 

Could there be an etymological link between _tyy_ (quiet, silent, I believe) and _täyde/ täysi_? And even between _täytya_ and 'full' ? (The fuller, the bigger the urge, in some cases ???)

Just wondering.


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## Grumpy Old Man

_Täysi_ is a Finnish word but I don't recognize _täyde_, except as the beginning of words like _täydellinen_ (complete, perfect). Perhaps you mean _täyde*n, *_the genitive of _täysi_?

_Tyy_ isn't a word at all  -  at least I have never seen it. Perhaps this, too, is part of a longer word?

GOM


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## ThomasK

I am sorry, I had reduced _täyden_ to _täyde_-, because that was the part I saw in all the words. 

Same thing with _tyy_-: that is the part I recognize in compounds (derivations), but the word _tyyni_ seems to be the basis. 

Is that better ?


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## sakvaka

http://users.jyu.fi/~pamakine/kieli/suomi/sijat/genetiivivaren.html

You will find information about the vowel change under this link, 2.1b (don't get scared about the page! the writer also checks things about sound history and lists old-fashioned words and declensions). You did very correctly when reducing the word to _täyde_-, this is the stem that is used in declinating the word (except in partitive, _täyt-tä_; this is so called "two-stem word").

But can you list examples of _tyy_- used in words? If you're talking about words like _tyytyväinen_, I doubt they are related to _tyyni_. However, I don't have an etymology dictionary here in Italy.


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## ThomasK

_(Ha, signor S., you are alive and kicking, no, working, even in Italy !)_

Great to get this reference to a Finnish grammar. 

But I cannot be sure about the _tyy_- but I think it is very plausible: stillness, quiet, and peace, tranquillity, are very much related.


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## Gavril

ThomasK said:


> _(Ha, signor S., you are alive and kicking, no, working, even in Italy !)_
> 
> Great to get this reference to a Finnish grammar.
> 
> But I cannot be sure about the _tyy_- but I think it is very plausible: stillness, quiet, and peace, tranquillity, are very much related.



_Nykysuomen Etymologinen Sanakirja _(Etymological Dictionary of Modern Finnish) says that the _tyy- _root (as seen in _tyyni, tyven_) is from the old stem _*tiwä-, _whereas _täysi, täyde- _etc. are from older *_täve_-. 

On _täytyä_, this source says that it is indeed related to _täysi_.

On _tyytyä, __tyytyväinen_ etc., it says that the origin is unknown, but that the original meaning of the stem may be "to be filled" -- so, maybe there is a connection with _täysi._


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## ThomasK

Thanks a lot for this information. I may be a little hasting in 'putting two and two together' and draw hasty conclusions from time to time, but I did think there could be a link. There might be a link with this in Dutch: one can "stillen" one's belly in Dutch  by filling one's belly... ;-)


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