Category
Topic
Year
tüssama
Keywords: Estonian vocabulary, etymology, loanwords
This article examines the origin of the Estonian verb tüssama ’to deceive, to cheat, to outwit’. It is proposed that tüssama and its dialectal variants of limited distribution – tüsama, tüskama, and tussama – are borrowings from the Middle Low German verb tuschen (tūschen) ’to deceive, to cheat, to mock, to tease; to mislead, to lead astray, to deal with someone, to make a fool of someone’. The occurrence of parallel forms with u and ü (tüsama, tüssama ~ tussama) in Estonian Low German loanwords reflects dialectal variation in the source language. The alternation s(s) ~…
This article examines the origin of the Estonian verb tüssama ’to deceive, to cheat, to outwit’. It is proposed that tüssama and its dialectal variants of limited distribution – tüsama, tüskama, and tussama – are borrowings from the Middle Low German verb tuschen (tūschen) ’to deceive, to cheat, to mock, to tease; to mislead, to lead astray, to deal with someone, to make a fool of someone’. The occurrence of parallel forms with u and ü (tüsama, tüssama ~ tussama) in Estonian Low German loanwords reflects dialectal variation in the source language. The alternation s(s) ~…
Issues in Modern Estonian morphology
Keywords: language planning, language codification, language change, morphology, Estonian
This article discusses various aspects of the description of Modern Estonian morphology in dictionaries published by the Institute of the Estonian Language. The rich system of declension and conjugation in Estonian, characterized by numerous exceptions, is constantly evolving, presenting language planners with a recurring challenge: whether to follow ongoing changes or to preserve the status quo. In morphology, the search for a balance between stability and change is reflected primarily in the acceptance of parallel forms and paradigms.
The codification of morphological norms in Estonian lexicography has been primarily tied to the compilation…
This article discusses various aspects of the description of Modern Estonian morphology in dictionaries published by the Institute of the Estonian Language. The rich system of declension and conjugation in Estonian, characterized by numerous exceptions, is constantly evolving, presenting language planners with a recurring challenge: whether to follow ongoing changes or to preserve the status quo. In morphology, the search for a balance between stability and change is reflected primarily in the acceptance of parallel forms and paradigms.
The codification of morphological norms in Estonian lexicography has been primarily tied to the compilation…
Changing sexuality and its modes of representation in contemporary Estonian erotic prose
Keywords: poetics, pornography, gender, romance fiction, embodiment
Contemporary Estonian erotic prose reflects more than just a shift in literary trends – it captures a broader cultural moment in which ideas about sexuality have become increasingly fluid. In many of these works, eroticism functions not merely as provocation, but also as a space for exploring questions of selfhood, feelings, and the boundaries of social norms. Desire, embodiment, and human connection are not presented as fixed truths, but are instead opened up, examined, and reimagined in literary form. Erotic literature is here understood as fiction in which sexuality plays a thematically and aesthetically central…
Contemporary Estonian erotic prose reflects more than just a shift in literary trends – it captures a broader cultural moment in which ideas about sexuality have become increasingly fluid. In many of these works, eroticism functions not merely as provocation, but also as a space for exploring questions of selfhood, feelings, and the boundaries of social norms. Desire, embodiment, and human connection are not presented as fixed truths, but are instead opened up, examined, and reimagined in literary form. Erotic literature is here understood as fiction in which sexuality plays a thematically and aesthetically central…
The identity of Livonian and Courlandian nobility in 17th-century satirical poetry
Keywords: noble literature, early modern period, Livonia, Courland, satire, epigram, political allegories
The article examines the formation of the identity of 17th-century Livonian and Courlandian nobility as reflected in their predominantly unpublished satirical poems – verse satires, witty epigrams, and sonnets – during the reign of various rulers (Poland, Sweden, and Denmark) and amid internal conflicts between the local hereditary elites and new nobility. The study aims to diachronically analyze which characteristics of the nobility are ridiculed and criticized in satirical poems, and how the tools of humanist and Baroque poetry – contrast, allegory, imagery, personification, comparison, etc. – were employed…
The article examines the formation of the identity of 17th-century Livonian and Courlandian nobility as reflected in their predominantly unpublished satirical poems – verse satires, witty epigrams, and sonnets – during the reign of various rulers (Poland, Sweden, and Denmark) and amid internal conflicts between the local hereditary elites and new nobility. The study aims to diachronically analyze which characteristics of the nobility are ridiculed and criticized in satirical poems, and how the tools of humanist and Baroque poetry – contrast, allegory, imagery, personification, comparison, etc. – were employed…
On the richness of the critical field, for a change
Keywords: literary criticism, survey, cultural journalism, Estonian literature
This article provides an overview of literary criticism published in 2024 and 2025 in the periodicals Akadeemia, Keel ja Kirjandus, Looming, Müürileht, Sirp, Vikerkaar and Värske Rõhk, all issued by SA Kultuurileht. The analysis draws on key statistical indicators. The sample comprises 475 reviews in total, of which 89 address translated works and 124 discuss non-fiction titles or new editions of older literature. The primary focus of the article is on reviews of contemporary Estonian fiction, which account for 278 items in the sample. Of these, 36% concern poetry and 60.4% prose; 35.6%…
This article provides an overview of literary criticism published in 2024 and 2025 in the periodicals Akadeemia, Keel ja Kirjandus, Looming, Müürileht, Sirp, Vikerkaar and Värske Rõhk, all issued by SA Kultuurileht. The analysis draws on key statistical indicators. The sample comprises 475 reviews in total, of which 89 address translated works and 124 discuss non-fiction titles or new editions of older literature. The primary focus of the article is on reviews of contemporary Estonian fiction, which account for 278 items in the sample. Of these, 36% concern poetry and 60.4% prose; 35.6%…
The diversity and distribution patterns of kinship vocabulary in Estonian runosongs
Keywords: runosongs, Estonian language, vocabulary, kinship terms
This article examines the core kinship vocabulary found in Estonian runosongs, focusing on the distribution of stems and stem variants of four key kinship terms: mother, father, sister, and brother. The kinship vocabulary in Estonian runosongs displays remarkable diversity, particularly in the terms denoting female and male parents. Among the analyzed terms, those referring to mother are the most frequent. In contrast, terms for sister and brother exhibit limited variation, represented by only two or three distinct stems.
The regional distribution pattern reveals clear differences between the North and South Estonian language areas. The coastal regions…
This article examines the core kinship vocabulary found in Estonian runosongs, focusing on the distribution of stems and stem variants of four key kinship terms: mother, father, sister, and brother. The kinship vocabulary in Estonian runosongs displays remarkable diversity, particularly in the terms denoting female and male parents. Among the analyzed terms, those referring to mother are the most frequent. In contrast, terms for sister and brother exhibit limited variation, represented by only two or three distinct stems.
The regional distribution pattern reveals clear differences between the North and South Estonian language areas. The coastal regions…
From the ice age to the inter ice age:
Keywords: translation history, translation studies, translation criticism, translated literature, science fiction
This article examines how Abe Kōbō’s science fiction novel Daiyon kanpyōki (“Inter Ice Age 4”) reached Estonian readers in 1966 through Agu Sisask’s translation. Having come to Sisask by somewhat accidental means, the work became an important part of the local literary canon, influencing theoretical debates on the nature of science fiction and challenging the Western-centric tendencies characteristic of such discussions.
A year before the Estonian translation appeared in print, Arkady Strugatsky’s Russian translation was published (1965). In addition to serving as the basis for several indirect translations issued in the…
This article examines how Abe Kōbō’s science fiction novel Daiyon kanpyōki (“Inter Ice Age 4”) reached Estonian readers in 1966 through Agu Sisask’s translation. Having come to Sisask by somewhat accidental means, the work became an important part of the local literary canon, influencing theoretical debates on the nature of science fiction and challenging the Western-centric tendencies characteristic of such discussions.
A year before the Estonian translation appeared in print, Arkady Strugatsky’s Russian translation was published (1965). In addition to serving as the basis for several indirect translations issued in the…