Category
Topic
Year
Estonian names for a flat cap
Keywords: Estonian, Estonian dialects, etymology, Swedish loanwords
The Estonian language knows several names for a flat cap: there are soni and the colloquial soge, in dialects we also find, e.g., kepka ~ kipka, hurask ~ vurask and keps. All those terms are loanwords in Estonian: soni is of (Baltic) German and soge of German origin, whereas kepka ~ kipka and hurask ~ vurask have been borrowed from Russian. The dialect word keps ~ käps, which has been recorded from three parishes (Muhu, Kihnu and Häädemeeste) is a Swedish loanword. The Swedish keps ‘a soft rounded hat with a rather wide top,…
The Estonian language knows several names for a flat cap: there are soni and the colloquial soge, in dialects we also find, e.g., kepka ~ kipka, hurask ~ vurask and keps. All those terms are loanwords in Estonian: soni is of (Baltic) German and soge of German origin, whereas kepka ~ kipka and hurask ~ vurask have been borrowed from Russian. The dialect word keps ~ käps, which has been recorded from three parishes (Muhu, Kihnu and Häädemeeste) is a Swedish loanword. The Swedish keps ‘a soft rounded hat with a rather wide top,…
Estonian language in 17th and 18th century church administrative documents
Keywords: historical sociolinguistics, Estonian language history, business Estonian, code switching
The article deals with language use in 17th–18th century documents concerning the Estonian-speaking area. Although this was the period when German (and Swedish) pastors were busy creating literary Estonian, the latter was mainly used in translating church literature (catechisms, hymns, the Bible) and in sermon writing. The matrix language used in church administration was German. The documents contain but single Estonian sentences, phrases and words still missing generalised analysis. A closer look is given to the cases of Estonian used in four kinds of documents of church administration: 17th century visitation…
The article deals with language use in 17th–18th century documents concerning the Estonian-speaking area. Although this was the period when German (and Swedish) pastors were busy creating literary Estonian, the latter was mainly used in translating church literature (catechisms, hymns, the Bible) and in sermon writing. The matrix language used in church administration was German. The documents contain but single Estonian sentences, phrases and words still missing generalised analysis. A closer look is given to the cases of Estonian used in four kinds of documents of church administration: 17th century visitation…
Radical homelessness in Ene Mihkelson’s poetry
Keywords: homelessness, phenomenology, allegory, poetry
The article examines the homeless experience of the lyrical subject in Ene Mihkelson’s poetry. The main argument is that in her phrasing of homelessness Mihkelson goes to extremes as her texts containing the word kodu ‘home’ are almost void of moments of homely coziness. In the article, thematic analysis of homelessness covers the whole poetic oeuvre of Mihkelson. The analysis follows the framework developed by the author’s previous articles defining home as an experience horizon with a spatial and an inter-subjective (sharing) aspect, whereas homelessness means an essential error in the home experience. The conclusion reads…
The article examines the homeless experience of the lyrical subject in Ene Mihkelson’s poetry. The main argument is that in her phrasing of homelessness Mihkelson goes to extremes as her texts containing the word kodu ‘home’ are almost void of moments of homely coziness. In the article, thematic analysis of homelessness covers the whole poetic oeuvre of Mihkelson. The analysis follows the framework developed by the author’s previous articles defining home as an experience horizon with a spatial and an inter-subjective (sharing) aspect, whereas homelessness means an essential error in the home experience. The conclusion reads…
“The Writers Union has not yet been able to unite all”
Keywords: Estonian Soviet Writers Union, Soviet Estonian literature, Sovietization of intellectual life, power struggle
A survey is given of how the Estonian Soviet Writers Union was created and developed as a Sovietized creative organization and how the final formation of its membership took place from 1943–1946. Special attention is paid to the Board meeting of the ES Writers Union (22.12.1945) and the general meeting of Soviet Estonian writers (30.12.1945) as key events of the process.
The membership formation of the Estonian Soviet Writers Union as a Soviet-minded creative association started in 1942 in Soviet rear, when four leading writers were accepted as…
A survey is given of how the Estonian Soviet Writers Union was created and developed as a Sovietized creative organization and how the final formation of its membership took place from 1943–1946. Special attention is paid to the Board meeting of the ES Writers Union (22.12.1945) and the general meeting of Soviet Estonian writers (30.12.1945) as key events of the process.
The membership formation of the Estonian Soviet Writers Union as a Soviet-minded creative association started in 1942 in Soviet rear, when four leading writers were accepted as…
New dates about the origin of the place name Tartu
Keywords: town names, Estonia, toponymy, etymology, research history, folkloristics
The paper attempts 1) to reflect and supplement the research history of the name origin of Tartu town (Latin Tharbatu, German Dorpat), 2) to find additional justifications for some previous etymologies, 3) to propose a competing hypothesis, and 4) to study possible connections with toponyms known from folklore. The article draws attention to the local historian and writer August Wilhelm Hupel’s role, albeit modest, in explaining the origin of the name Tartu. The Finno-Ugrist Paul Ariste’s hypothesis, which is still considered the most plausible, according to which a toponym *Tarvatto is derived…
The paper attempts 1) to reflect and supplement the research history of the name origin of Tartu town (Latin Tharbatu, German Dorpat), 2) to find additional justifications for some previous etymologies, 3) to propose a competing hypothesis, and 4) to study possible connections with toponyms known from folklore. The article draws attention to the local historian and writer August Wilhelm Hupel’s role, albeit modest, in explaining the origin of the name Tartu. The Finno-Ugrist Paul Ariste’s hypothesis, which is still considered the most plausible, according to which a toponym *Tarvatto is derived…
The base form and other forms of Estonian verb
Keywords: morphology, verbal inflection, paradigm structure, corpus linguistics, linguistic variation, text statistics, child language, historical linguistics, old Estonian
The article discusses the implicational patterns present in the Estonian verb paradigm: which paradigm slot acts as the base form, which slots act as other principal parts, and what their hierarchical dependency looks like. The argumentation relies on data from three different sources: childrens acquisition of Estonian as their first language; verbal inflectional classes as reconstructed from the 17th century Tallinn variety of Estonian; and statistics from different contemporary corpora. The article arrives at a different implicational schema than the one traditionally considered…
The article discusses the implicational patterns present in the Estonian verb paradigm: which paradigm slot acts as the base form, which slots act as other principal parts, and what their hierarchical dependency looks like. The argumentation relies on data from three different sources: childrens acquisition of Estonian as their first language; verbal inflectional classes as reconstructed from the 17th century Tallinn variety of Estonian; and statistics from different contemporary corpora. The article arrives at a different implicational schema than the one traditionally considered…
Names and nicknames of Siberian Estonians
Keywords: community, fieldwork, name giving tradition, Siberian Estonians
In the article, I discuss the name giving tradition of Siberian Estonians. The material has been collected from various Estonian communities in Siberia during the fieldwork of the Estonian Folklore Archives in the period 1991–2013. Most of my informants were descendants of those who emigrated to Siberia more than a century ago, and in some villages, I also met the descendants of those deported during the Tsarist period.
In the last decade of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, there were only a few villages in Siberia that remained more or…
In the article, I discuss the name giving tradition of Siberian Estonians. The material has been collected from various Estonian communities in Siberia during the fieldwork of the Estonian Folklore Archives in the period 1991–2013. Most of my informants were descendants of those who emigrated to Siberia more than a century ago, and in some villages, I also met the descendants of those deported during the Tsarist period.
In the last decade of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, there were only a few villages in Siberia that remained more or…
“A Jew who came to Estonia”
Keywords: Juri Lotman, reception, Estonian literature, history and fiction, intellectual history
This article focuses on the reception of Juri Lotman in Estonia. Lotman, a scholar of Jewish origins who wrote – predominantly in Russian – about Russian culture, came to be recognized as one of the most prominent Estonian intellectuals. His correspondence with Estonia’s leading cultural and political figures of the 1980s and early 1990s proves that already during his lifetime he was considered an Estonian scholar, not only from a geographical but from a cultural and political point of view. In the article, this type of reception is referred to as naturalization.…
This article focuses on the reception of Juri Lotman in Estonia. Lotman, a scholar of Jewish origins who wrote – predominantly in Russian – about Russian culture, came to be recognized as one of the most prominent Estonian intellectuals. His correspondence with Estonia’s leading cultural and political figures of the 1980s and early 1990s proves that already during his lifetime he was considered an Estonian scholar, not only from a geographical but from a cultural and political point of view. In the article, this type of reception is referred to as naturalization.…
A unique term for malt
Keywords: etymology, Estonian, Votic, Old Russian loanword
In Estonian and Votic malt is called linnas, mostly used in the plural form linnased. The term is general in the dialects of both languages. Literary Estonian knows the word since the 17th century. The origin of the word stem is unclear. It cannot be rooted in a genuine Estonian-Votic material as there are no words of a similar stem in either language. Nor are there credible cognates in other Finnic languages. This is why attention has been turned to possible loan relationships.
In medieval times Estonia and Livonia were in active trade with Riga,…
In Estonian and Votic malt is called linnas, mostly used in the plural form linnased. The term is general in the dialects of both languages. Literary Estonian knows the word since the 17th century. The origin of the word stem is unclear. It cannot be rooted in a genuine Estonian-Votic material as there are no words of a similar stem in either language. Nor are there credible cognates in other Finnic languages. This is why attention has been turned to possible loan relationships.
In medieval times Estonia and Livonia were in active trade with Riga,…
Numerals and counting in Estonian
Keywords: numerals, Estonian dialects, old literary Estonian, Finnic languages, language contacts
Modern Estonian numerals demonstrate the typical Finno-Ugric decimal system: the first ten digits are referred to by simple words, after ten come teen numerals, and from 20 on the count goes by tens followed by simple numbers as (and if) necessary (e.g. twenty-one, thirty-three, eighty-eight etc.). However, this has not always been the case. According to the old Finnic tradition, numbers from eleven to nineteen were counted as ones of the second ten, numbers from 21 to 29 as numbers of the third ten, from 31 to 39 as numbers…
Modern Estonian numerals demonstrate the typical Finno-Ugric decimal system: the first ten digits are referred to by simple words, after ten come teen numerals, and from 20 on the count goes by tens followed by simple numbers as (and if) necessary (e.g. twenty-one, thirty-three, eighty-eight etc.). However, this has not always been the case. According to the old Finnic tradition, numbers from eleven to nineteen were counted as ones of the second ten, numbers from 21 to 29 as numbers of the third ten, from 31 to 39 as numbers…
Dissolution of storytelling and scenic representation in Ene Mihkelson’s prose
Keywords: modernist novel, description, scene, story, affect
In the study of the poetics of the modernist novel, one of the unifying topics is the decrease of coherent storytelling in the proportion of representation. At the same time, the modern literary process has brought up new images, which function in a similar way as the descriptions familiar from the realist tradition but are meant to be associated with elusive physical tensions characteristic of modern society. According to Fredric Jameson the starting point of this development is in Gustave Flaubert’s literary innovations, while Jameson’s definition of modernism largely rests on an increasing domination…
In the study of the poetics of the modernist novel, one of the unifying topics is the decrease of coherent storytelling in the proportion of representation. At the same time, the modern literary process has brought up new images, which function in a similar way as the descriptions familiar from the realist tradition but are meant to be associated with elusive physical tensions characteristic of modern society. According to Fredric Jameson the starting point of this development is in Gustave Flaubert’s literary innovations, while Jameson’s definition of modernism largely rests on an increasing domination…
From a Mansi creation song to the Estonian bird of creation
Keywords: Estonian regilaul, creation myth, Mansi folklore
The paper is analysing the Mansi (Wogul) creation myth as presented in songs and stories collected by Hungarian scientists in the 19th century. Some of these texts are considered sacred among the Mansi people. The texts tell us about the creation of the Earth, man, animals and fish, conditions for human life etc. The main focus of analysis is on how and with what words the creation and its results are described. In the “Sacred song of creation” the world just created is small like the silver ring of a spindle and rotates…
The paper is analysing the Mansi (Wogul) creation myth as presented in songs and stories collected by Hungarian scientists in the 19th century. Some of these texts are considered sacred among the Mansi people. The texts tell us about the creation of the Earth, man, animals and fish, conditions for human life etc. The main focus of analysis is on how and with what words the creation and its results are described. In the “Sacred song of creation” the world just created is small like the silver ring of a spindle and rotates…
In memoriam Helmi Neetar (29/01/1934 – 01/02/2021)
Foto: Jüri Viikberg
Küünlakuu künnisel, vaid mõni päev pärast oma 87. sünnipäeva, lahkus meie seast teenekas murdeuurija Helmi Neetar. Oleme kaotanud erudeeritud keeleteadlase ning hea kolleegi.
Helmi Neetar sündis 29. jaanuaril 1934 Järvamaal Väinjärve vallas Tudre külas talupidaja tütrena. Ta lõpetas Paide keskkooli (1953) ja Tartu Riikliku Ülikooli ajaloo-keeleteaduskonna soome-ugri keelte eriharus. Andeka üliõpilase uurijasoon avaldus juba ülikooliaastail. Suvistelt keelematkadelt kogutud materjali põhjal valmisid professor Paul Ariste juhendamisel nii kursusetöö „Partitiivi moodustamisest läänemeresoome keeltes (eriti Valdai karjala murdes)” (1956) kui ka diplomitöö „Käänete funktsioonidest karjala valdai murdes” (1958). Auhindamistel osutusid väljavalituks mõlemad.
Pärast kohustuslikku õpetajaametiaega Märjamaa keskkoolis (1958–1960) sai Neetarist Keele ja Kirjanduse…
Küünlakuu künnisel, vaid mõni päev pärast oma 87. sünnipäeva, lahkus meie seast teenekas murdeuurija Helmi Neetar. Oleme kaotanud erudeeritud keeleteadlase ning hea kolleegi.
Helmi Neetar sündis 29. jaanuaril 1934 Järvamaal Väinjärve vallas Tudre külas talupidaja tütrena. Ta lõpetas Paide keskkooli (1953) ja Tartu Riikliku Ülikooli ajaloo-keeleteaduskonna soome-ugri keelte eriharus. Andeka üliõpilase uurijasoon avaldus juba ülikooliaastail. Suvistelt keelematkadelt kogutud materjali põhjal valmisid professor Paul Ariste juhendamisel nii kursusetöö „Partitiivi moodustamisest läänemeresoome keeltes (eriti Valdai karjala murdes)” (1956) kui ka diplomitöö „Käänete funktsioonidest karjala valdai murdes” (1958). Auhindamistel osutusid väljavalituks mõlemad.
Pärast kohustuslikku õpetajaametiaega Märjamaa keskkoolis (1958–1960) sai Neetarist Keele ja Kirjanduse…