Category
Topic
Year
Evaluative morphology in Estonian teen language
Keywords: evaluative constructions, diminutive, prefixoid, reduplication
This article examines evaluative constructions – that is, morphological means of expressing evaluation – in the word formation of Estonian teenage language. The analysis is based on the framework of evaluative morphology and has been adapted to descriptions of modifying word formation in Estonian. The linguistic material is drawn from an online corpus compiled within the project Teenage Language in Estonia, consisting of written conversations by young people aged 9–18 in digital communication platforms.
Estonian teenagers primarily use word formation to express three types of evaluation: increasing intensity (e.g., megatore, vägaväga), decreasing intensity (e.g., mõttekene, kohekohe),…
This article examines evaluative constructions – that is, morphological means of expressing evaluation – in the word formation of Estonian teenage language. The analysis is based on the framework of evaluative morphology and has been adapted to descriptions of modifying word formation in Estonian. The linguistic material is drawn from an online corpus compiled within the project Teenage Language in Estonia, consisting of written conversations by young people aged 9–18 in digital communication platforms.
Estonian teenagers primarily use word formation to express three types of evaluation: increasing intensity (e.g., megatore, vägaväga), decreasing intensity (e.g., mõttekene, kohekohe),…
Jakob Lenz, the nobility, and the Baltic literary landscape of nobility
Keywords: noble literature, early modern period, Livonia, Enlightenment
The nobility has played a central role in Baltic literature since the 18th century, and even more so in the 19th and 20th centuries. On the one hand, there is a disproportionately high number of aristocratic authors – especially women. On the other hand, the nobility is portrayed in literature in a wide variety of ways: as individuals and social groups, as landowners and rulers of peasants, and as enlightened or unenlightened. This article explores how Jakob Lenz (1751–1792) and his works contribute to this tradition. His works clearly demonstrate a broader literary and critical interest…
The nobility has played a central role in Baltic literature since the 18th century, and even more so in the 19th and 20th centuries. On the one hand, there is a disproportionately high number of aristocratic authors – especially women. On the other hand, the nobility is portrayed in literature in a wide variety of ways: as individuals and social groups, as landowners and rulers of peasants, and as enlightened or unenlightened. This article explores how Jakob Lenz (1751–1792) and his works contribute to this tradition. His works clearly demonstrate a broader literary and critical interest…
Translator names in the fiction publications of Loodus (1920–1940)
Keywords: literary translators, 1920–1940, translation studies, archives
Founded in 1920 as a publisher of natural science textbooks, Loodus grew into the largest publishing house in interwar Estonia. From 1928 onward, the systematic publication of translated fiction became central to its activities. This article investigates the translator names under which Loodus published literary translations, with a particular focus on identifying the individuals behind pseudonyms.
The study is based on a bibliography of 485 translated works published between 1921 and 1940, which revealed 119 translator names, including 43 suspected or confirmed pseudonyms. Among the sources consulted, Loodus’s account books preserved in the National Archives…
Founded in 1920 as a publisher of natural science textbooks, Loodus grew into the largest publishing house in interwar Estonia. From 1928 onward, the systematic publication of translated fiction became central to its activities. This article investigates the translator names under which Loodus published literary translations, with a particular focus on identifying the individuals behind pseudonyms.
The study is based on a bibliography of 485 translated works published between 1921 and 1940, which revealed 119 translator names, including 43 suspected or confirmed pseudonyms. Among the sources consulted, Loodus’s account books preserved in the National Archives…
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…