Category
Topic
Year
Author confidence and claim credibility
Keywords: hedging, reader perception, academic texts, university writing, Estonian
Hedges are linguistic devices that allow the author of a text to express uncertainty about a given claim and leave room for reader interpretation. Although hedges in Estonian have been studied using corpus data, little attention has been paid to how readers perceive these linguistic devices. The aim of this study is to find out whether and how different hedges influence the perception of the author’s confidence and the credibility of their claims. To investigate this, I conducted an experiment in which student readers were asked to evaluate the author’s confidence and…
Hedges are linguistic devices that allow the author of a text to express uncertainty about a given claim and leave room for reader interpretation. Although hedges in Estonian have been studied using corpus data, little attention has been paid to how readers perceive these linguistic devices. The aim of this study is to find out whether and how different hedges influence the perception of the author’s confidence and the credibility of their claims. To investigate this, I conducted an experiment in which student readers were asked to evaluate the author’s confidence and…
Unnecessary or meaningful –lt derivative?
Keywords: temporal adverbs, redundancy, corpus analysis, usage-based linguistics, language planning
This article presents a comparative analysis of the Estonian adverbs koheselt and kohe, bothexpressing immediacy, with particular attention to the long-standing prescriptive rejection of koheselt due to its perceived redundancy. Since the 1960 edition of the Dictionary of Standard Estonian, koheselt has been stigmatized without contextual consideration. Drawing on a usage-based corpus analysis, we show that koheselt gained prominence in the 1940s and 1950s, especially in Soviet-era bureaucratic and directive texts, a development that likely contributed to its subsequent stigmatization. Although its use declined following the prescriptive recommendation issued in the…
This article presents a comparative analysis of the Estonian adverbs koheselt and kohe, bothexpressing immediacy, with particular attention to the long-standing prescriptive rejection of koheselt due to its perceived redundancy. Since the 1960 edition of the Dictionary of Standard Estonian, koheselt has been stigmatized without contextual consideration. Drawing on a usage-based corpus analysis, we show that koheselt gained prominence in the 1940s and 1950s, especially in Soviet-era bureaucratic and directive texts, a development that likely contributed to its subsequent stigmatization. Although its use declined following the prescriptive recommendation issued in the…
Knowledge and the construction of meaning in Estonian forest poetry
Keywords: epistemology, Estonian poetry, experiential knowledge, forest ecology, human–nature relationships
Estonia is a forested country, and trees and forests are depicted in Estonian poetry in diverse ways. From a neo-cognitivist perspective, this study examines two forms of knowledge with the broader aim of understanding how knowledge about human–nature relations is created, shaped, and transmitted. The material comprises 235 poetic texts by 71 authors, recently compiled in an anthology of Estonian forest poetry (Kareva 2024). I address two main questions: (1) What scientific (propositional) knowledge of nature is reflected in forest poetry, and how is it represented? (2) What recurring experiences or…
Estonia is a forested country, and trees and forests are depicted in Estonian poetry in diverse ways. From a neo-cognitivist perspective, this study examines two forms of knowledge with the broader aim of understanding how knowledge about human–nature relations is created, shaped, and transmitted. The material comprises 235 poetic texts by 71 authors, recently compiled in an anthology of Estonian forest poetry (Kareva 2024). I address two main questions: (1) What scientific (propositional) knowledge of nature is reflected in forest poetry, and how is it represented? (2) What recurring experiences or…
Translating Oleksandr Averbuch’s poetry
Keywords: poetry translation, multilingualism, Ukrainian poetry, Ukrainian, Estonian, total translation
This article focuses on the translation of Oleksandr Averbuch’s poetry collection Жидівський король (2021) into Estonian, with the author of the article also serving as its translator. Particular attention is paid to the theoretical aspects of translating literary multilingualism and to a specific variety of Ukrainian used by Ostarbeiters which was developed by the poet himself. The starting point is Peeter Torop’s concept of total translation, according to which translation is not merely an interaction between two language systems but occurs at the level of the text and its cultural context.…
This article focuses on the translation of Oleksandr Averbuch’s poetry collection Жидівський король (2021) into Estonian, with the author of the article also serving as its translator. Particular attention is paid to the theoretical aspects of translating literary multilingualism and to a specific variety of Ukrainian used by Ostarbeiters which was developed by the poet himself. The starting point is Peeter Torop’s concept of total translation, according to which translation is not merely an interaction between two language systems but occurs at the level of the text and its cultural context.…
Multilingualism and memory in Reijo Roos’s poetry collection tere kas tohib / tere kas võisõ
Keywords: multilingualism, translanguaging, memory, sites of memory, Võro language, Baltic Sea, translation strategies, Finnish-Estonian relations
Reijo Roos is an Estonian-Finnish writer of the younger generation and founder of the youth section of the Estonian Writers’ Union. He grew up in a bilingual family. In 2022, he published his first poetry collection kured kotkad kajakad (“cranes eagles seagulls”), followed in 2023 by the bilingual collection tere kas tohib / tere kas võisõ (“hello, may I”). The latter contains Roos’s original Estonian poems, accompanied by parallel translations into Võro language by Triinu Laan.
This article analyzes tere kas tohib / tere kas võisõ (2023),…
Reijo Roos is an Estonian-Finnish writer of the younger generation and founder of the youth section of the Estonian Writers’ Union. He grew up in a bilingual family. In 2022, he published his first poetry collection kured kotkad kajakad (“cranes eagles seagulls”), followed in 2023 by the bilingual collection tere kas tohib / tere kas võisõ (“hello, may I”). The latter contains Roos’s original Estonian poems, accompanied by parallel translations into Võro language by Triinu Laan.
This article analyzes tere kas tohib / tere kas võisõ (2023),…
Noli tacere
Keywords: multilingualism, Estonian poetry, youth poetry, code-switching, Värske Rõhk, corpus analysis
This article analyzes lexical multilingualism in poetry published in the Estonian young writers’ magazine Värske Rõhk between 2005 and 2024. The corpus comprises 3,086 poems by 328 authors. Combining quantitative corpus analysis with qualitative poetics, the study examines the frequency of multilingualism, the languages represented, their structural relationship to Estonian as the matrix language, and their poetic functions.
Lexical multilingualism occurs in 348 poems (11.28% of the corpus) and does not increase over time. English is the most frequently represented foreign language, followed by Latin and Russian. According to Pieter Muysken’s…
This article analyzes lexical multilingualism in poetry published in the Estonian young writers’ magazine Värske Rõhk between 2005 and 2024. The corpus comprises 3,086 poems by 328 authors. Combining quantitative corpus analysis with qualitative poetics, the study examines the frequency of multilingualism, the languages represented, their structural relationship to Estonian as the matrix language, and their poetic functions.
Lexical multilingualism occurs in 348 poems (11.28% of the corpus) and does not increase over time. English is the most frequently represented foreign language, followed by Latin and Russian. According to Pieter Muysken’s…
The formation of Russian-language literature in Estonia, 2003–2010
Keywords: Russian-language literature in Estonia, literary field, multilingual poetics, translation, literary infrastructure, literary visibility
This article offers a field-based analysis of Russian-language poetry in Estonia between 2003 and 2010. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of the literary field, it argues that the growing visibility of Russophone authors in Estonia should be understood not as a shift in poetics, but as a reconfiguration of the institutional conditions governing literary production and recognition. The study examines how new mechanisms of legitimation emerged through literary groups, hybrid publication strategies, and the development of online platforms. It shows that these forms of collective and network-based…
This article offers a field-based analysis of Russian-language poetry in Estonia between 2003 and 2010. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of the literary field, it argues that the growing visibility of Russophone authors in Estonia should be understood not as a shift in poetics, but as a reconfiguration of the institutional conditions governing literary production and recognition. The study examines how new mechanisms of legitimation emerged through literary groups, hybrid publication strategies, and the development of online platforms. It shows that these forms of collective and network-based…
Jaan Kaplinski’s The Same Sea in Us All
Keywords: syntax, non-finite constructions, tense and aspect, person, poetry translation, Dù Fǔ
Estonian poet and thinker Jaan Kaplinski (1941–2021) felt a close affinity with Chinese culture throughout his life. He began studying Chinese in 1966, started translating classical Chinese poetry into Estonian by himself, and published his first translations of Dù Fǔ 杜甫 in 1969. These translations are written in free verse, consisting of phrases that do not tend to form full clauses. Although not a fixed form, one can identify this type of free verse in Kaplinski’s own original poetry as well.
This article discusses Kaplinski’s poetry series Seesama meri meis…
Estonian poet and thinker Jaan Kaplinski (1941–2021) felt a close affinity with Chinese culture throughout his life. He began studying Chinese in 1966, started translating classical Chinese poetry into Estonian by himself, and published his first translations of Dù Fǔ 杜甫 in 1969. These translations are written in free verse, consisting of phrases that do not tend to form full clauses. Although not a fixed form, one can identify this type of free verse in Kaplinski’s own original poetry as well.
This article discusses Kaplinski’s poetry series Seesama meri meis…
Alliksaar’s Russian-language poetry
Keywords: Artur Alliksaar, textology, Russian, love, Stalinism, “physicists and lyricists”
This article analyzes three Russian-language poems by Artur Alliksaar held in the archives of the Estonian Literary Museum (EKM EKLA, Fond 316; 5:1). The poems are examined both within the context of Alliksaar’s oeuvre and against a broader cultural and social background. The poem dedicated to Galina Serebryakova is analyzed in the context of the Khrushchev Thaw, while the sketch on elementary particles is examined in relation to the debate on “physicists and lyricists”. The reasons for the use of Russian in these texts are also explored.
Mihhail Lotman (b. 1952), PhD,…
This article analyzes three Russian-language poems by Artur Alliksaar held in the archives of the Estonian Literary Museum (EKM EKLA, Fond 316; 5:1). The poems are examined both within the context of Alliksaar’s oeuvre and against a broader cultural and social background. The poem dedicated to Galina Serebryakova is analyzed in the context of the Khrushchev Thaw, while the sketch on elementary particles is examined in relation to the debate on “physicists and lyricists”. The reasons for the use of Russian in these texts are also explored.
Mihhail Lotman (b. 1952), PhD,…
Half-German poetry as Baltic German folklore
Keywords: Baltic German literature, Half-German poetry (Halbdeutsch), Schanno von Dinakant, Baltic German folklore, cultural memory and identity
This article examines Baltic German Half-German poetry (Halbdeutsch) from a cultural-historical perspective, focusing on its final phase during and after the Second World War and on its most enduring literary figure, Schanno von Dinakant. Originating in the nineteenth century as a humorous mixed-language genre that imitated the speech of social groups situated between German and Estonian resp. Latvian linguistic worlds, Half-German poetry gradually acquired folkloric features. The article argues that, in its late phase, it came to function as a form of Baltic German…
This article examines Baltic German Half-German poetry (Halbdeutsch) from a cultural-historical perspective, focusing on its final phase during and after the Second World War and on its most enduring literary figure, Schanno von Dinakant. Originating in the nineteenth century as a humorous mixed-language genre that imitated the speech of social groups situated between German and Estonian resp. Latvian linguistic worlds, Half-German poetry gradually acquired folkloric features. The article argues that, in its late phase, it came to function as a form of Baltic German…
Linguistic boundaries and frameworks
Keywords: code-switching, poetic multilingualism, Estonian poetry, poetics, paratextuality
The poetry of Valmar Adams and Johannes Barbarus from 1918 to 1939 is characterized by an abundance of fragments in other languages. This period marked a turning point for the Estonian language(s) in general: the written language was standardized, the National Minorities Cultural Autonomy Act was adopted, and poetry was published in multiple languages as well as in multilingual form. Against this historical backdrop, the poetic effect of multilingualism stands out as an interesting feature in Estonian-language poetry, and among the multilingual techniques employed by poets of the period, paratextual code-switching is the…
The poetry of Valmar Adams and Johannes Barbarus from 1918 to 1939 is characterized by an abundance of fragments in other languages. This period marked a turning point for the Estonian language(s) in general: the written language was standardized, the National Minorities Cultural Autonomy Act was adopted, and poetry was published in multiple languages as well as in multilingual form. Against this historical backdrop, the poetic effect of multilingualism stands out as an interesting feature in Estonian-language poetry, and among the multilingual techniques employed by poets of the period, paratextual code-switching is the…
Multilingual and innovative poetic landscape 1920–1924
Keywords: Estonian poetry, literary multilingualism, language innovation, poetics
This article focuses on manifestations of multilingualism in Estonian poetry between 1920 and 1924. The Estonian language reform that reached its peak during this period and drew on influences from South Estonian has been studied extensively by Tiit Hennoste. One of the questions that remains to be explored is whether multilingualism and language innovation are interconnected. To delimit the material, a substantial proportion of the Estonian-language poetry collections published during the period was examined, and the works of five poets were selected for analysis: Gustav Suits, August Alle, Valmar Adams, Johannes Barbarus, and…
This article focuses on manifestations of multilingualism in Estonian poetry between 1920 and 1924. The Estonian language reform that reached its peak during this period and drew on influences from South Estonian has been studied extensively by Tiit Hennoste. One of the questions that remains to be explored is whether multilingualism and language innovation are interconnected. To delimit the material, a substantial proportion of the Estonian-language poetry collections published during the period was examined, and the works of five poets were selected for analysis: Gustav Suits, August Alle, Valmar Adams, Johannes Barbarus, and…
Multilingual poetry in 17th-century Estonia and Livonia
Keywords: multilingualism, Early Modern Livonia, poetry
This article first outlines the historical context in which multilingual poetry collections emerged, highlighting the most important religious publications and trends in multilingual poetry in early modern Europe, considering their (possible) influence in Estonia and Livonia, and briefly turning to post-Napoleonic Wars Europe in connection with Estonia. It then examines the treatment of linguistic diversity and multilingual poetry collections in early modern Estonia, Livonia and Courland, providing an overview of the corpus known to date and proposing a small typology.
Janika Päll (b. 1965), PhD, University of Tartu, Professor of Classical Philology (Lossi 3, 51003 Tartu),…
This article first outlines the historical context in which multilingual poetry collections emerged, highlighting the most important religious publications and trends in multilingual poetry in early modern Europe, considering their (possible) influence in Estonia and Livonia, and briefly turning to post-Napoleonic Wars Europe in connection with Estonia. It then examines the treatment of linguistic diversity and multilingual poetry collections in early modern Estonia, Livonia and Courland, providing an overview of the corpus known to date and proposing a small typology.
Janika Päll (b. 1965), PhD, University of Tartu, Professor of Classical Philology (Lossi 3, 51003 Tartu),…