Vocab: jäätuma
to freeze, to ice over
Building blocks
jää- - freeze
ta- - factitive (“make something freeze”),
tu- -(replacing the previous
-a)-reflexive “make yourself freeze”-ma - infinitive ending
It’s derived from Proto-Finnic jää (ice).
There is also another verb: jäätama. This translates to “to cover (a body of water, the surface of something) with ice”. Jäätama is more rarely used.
How to use it
Here are some common situations in which you can use this word:
To describe the freezing of something, such as a lake, river, or pond. For example, you can say "Järv on jäätunud" (The lake has frozen over)
To describe the freezing of food. For example, you can say "Maasikad on külmikus jäätunud" (The strawberries have frozen in the freezer)
To describe the freezing of water in a pipe. For example, you can say "Kraan on jäätunud" (The tap is frozen).
To describe the feeling of being cold. For example, you can say "Ma olen täiesti jäätunud" (I am fully frozen)
Examples
Veekraan jäätus talvel kinni
Literally: “Water tap froze winter-in shut”
Idiomatically: “The water tap froze shut in winter”
Veekraan - Noun - Nom Sg, "Water tap"
jäätus - Verb - 3P Past Sg, "froze"
talvel - Noun - Adessive Sg, "winter-in"
kinni - Adverb - Indeclineable, "shut"