Наконец-то я дома.
Наконец я дома.
I wonder how these two phrases differ in meaning? Adding the colloquial particle "то" to the end of an adverb seems to reinforce its meaning, but at the risk of coming across as somewhat childish and uneducated.
In German, for instance, the adverb "endlich" single-handedly carries the connotation of emotional relief (like, "Ah, FINALLY!") after a long-lasting wait is over.
Is the adverb "Наконец" alone not enough to impart a sense of relief to the sentence?
My impression is that наконец-то is fit for simple sentences (not compound or complex) with just one predicate, where the fact of something having occurred finally is its only idea.
Наконец-то я дома.(simple sentence) Теперь можно расслабиться.
наконец almost implies some continuation or expansion of the statement
Наконец я дома и могу расслабиться. (two predicates)
Наконец я дома, и можно расслабиться. (compound sentence)
The version with -то (close to 'at last') typically relates to the current moment and also expresses the speaker's personal (or related to a fictional character's thoughts) satisfaction with some long awaited fact, with a bit of emotion.
Наконец-то мне принесли заказанный диск!
The more common version (without -то, closer to 'finally') is less personal and can describe a sequence of some events in the past (not only recent events), which had been expected but happened with some delay (or inevitably not as soon as desired).
В 1830 году Наталья Гончарова согласилась, наконец, выйти замуж за Пушкина.
The meaning is absolutely the same "at last", but as you mentioned (correctly ) the difference is emotional, since "-то", a particle gives an additional stress to the word it is used with.
Наконец я дома. (I am home at last.) Наконец-то я дома.(And at last I am home).
