Estonian grammar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Estonian grammar is a grammar of the Estonian language.
Contents |
[edit] Nouns
Inflectional endings as listed below are added to the stem of a noun, which is formed from:
- singular genetive: singular cases except nominative and partitive, plural nominative,
- singular partitive: plural genetive,
- plural genetive: plural cases except nominative and partitive.
Singular nominative can take the following endings: -ja, -la, -nna, -tar, -ur, -stik, -ndik, -nik, -ik, -k, -ng, -lane, -line, -mine, -kene, -ke, -e, -ndus, -dus, -us, -is, -kond, -nd, -istu, -u.
Singular genetive can take the following endings: -a, -e, -i, -u.
Singular partitive can take the following endings: -d, -t, -a, -e, -i, -u.
Singular nominative, singular genetive and singular partitive are not predictable and have to be taken from the vocabulary (gradation may also apply).
Plural partitive is formed from either singular genetive or singular partitive and can take the following endings (some words have two forms):
- -id: one-syllable words with long vowels aa, ee, õõ, uu, öö, ää, two-syllable words with long vowels or endings -em, -en, -el, -er, -ar, -ur, -e, -ne, -s or singular genetive with one or three syllables, three-syllable words with endings -ne, -s,
- -sid: one-syllable words with long vowels ii, üü or a diphthong, two-syllable words with short vowels, three-syllable words with endings -um, -on, -er, -ar, -är, -ov, -nna,
- -e: words with singular partitive endings -i, -u, -j, or singular partitive ending -a with the preceding syllable containing u,
- -i: words with singular partitive ending -e, or singular partitive ending on consonant with singular genetive ending -e, or singular partitive ending -a with the preceding syllable containing vowels e, o, ä, ö, ü or a diphthong with one of these vowels as the first sound with the exception of ei, äi,
- -u: words with singular partitive ending -a with the preceding syllable containing vowels a, i, õ or diphthongs ei, äi.
Singular illative has a short form in some words. It can take the following endings: -de, -he, -hu, -a, -e, -i, -u. In case they take the vowel ending, this vowel is the same as the ending vowel of the singular genitive form of the given word, but the vowel (if it is already long or a diphthong) or its preceding consonant (if the vowel is short and the consonant either short or long) is lengthened to the third degree and thus becomes overlong. If illative ends with -sesse, then the short form is -sse.
Plural illative, inessive, elative, allative, adessive, ablative, translative have a short form in some words. If the plural partitive ends with -id, then the short plural stem is this form without -d (instead of plural genetive with -de-); if it ends with a vowel, then the short plural stem is this form; if it ends with -sid, then the short plural cannot be formed.
Emphasis: noun + -gi (after a final voiced consonant or vowel) / -ki (after a final voiceless consonant).
- personal (nominative - genetive - partitive, singular / plural): m(in)a - m(in)u - mind / m(ei)e - m(ei)e - meid (I), s(in)a - s(in)u - sind / t(ei)e - t(ei)e - teid (you), t(em)a - t(em)a - teda / n(em)ad - nende - neid (he/she/it); reflexive: ise - enese/enda - ennast/end / ise - eneste/endi - endid (-self)
- demonstrative (nominative - genetive - partitive, singular / plural): see - selle - seda / need - nende - neid (this/that), too - tolle - toda / nood - nonde - noid (yonder)
- interrogative (nominative - genetive - partitive): kes - kelle - keda (who), mis - mille - mida (what), milline - millise - millist (which out of many), kumb - kumma - kumba (which out of two)
- existential (nominative - genetive - partitive): keegi - kellegi - kedagi (someone), miski - millegi - midagi (something), mõni - mõne - mõnda (some), ükski - ühegi - ühtegi (one)
- free choice (nominative - genetive - partitive): mingi - mingi - mingit (anyone/anything/any), kumbki - kummagi - kumbagi (either)
- universal (nominative - genetive - partitive): kõik - kõige - kõike (everyone/everything/each), mõlemad - mõlema - mõlemat (both)
| Declension of nouns | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case | ||||||||||||||
| Number | Nominative | Genitive | Partitive | Illative | Inessive | Elative | Allative | Adessive | Ablative | Translative | Terminative | Essive | Abessive | Comitative |
| Singular | - | - | - | -sse | -s | -st | -le | -l | -lt | -ks | -ni | -na | -ta | -ga |
| Plural | -d | -de / -te | -id / -sid / -e / -i / -u | -sse | -s | -st | -le | -l | -lt | -ks | -ni | -na | -ta | -ga |
[edit] Adjectives
Inflectional endings as listed below are added to the stem of an adjective, which is formed like the one for nouns.
The stem for the comparative and superlative forms is the singular genetive of an adjective; if a word has two syllables in the genetive or a vowel following -ke(se), then -ke(se) is left out and the last vowel in the stem changes to -e. The genetive and the partitive of the comparative itself are formed with -a and -at.
Singular nominative can take the following endings: -lik, -line, -lane, -ne, -ke, -kas, -jas, -tu.
Antonym: eba- + adjective.
- numeral (nominative - genetive - partitive, with noun in singular nominative for 1 and in singular partitive for others): null - nulli - nulli (0), üks - ühe - üht (1), kaks - kahe - kaht (2), kolm - kolme - kolme (3), neli - nelja - nelja (4), viis - viie - viit (5), kuus - kuue - kuut (6), seitse - seitsme - seitset (7), kaheksa - kaheksa - kaheksat (8), üheksa - üheksa - uheksat (9), kümme - kümne - kümmet (10), -teist(kümmend) - -teist(kümne) - -teist(kümmet) (11-19), -kümmend - -kümne - -kümmet (20-90), sada - saja - sada (100), -sada - -saja - -sada (200-900), - tuhat - - tuhande - - tuhat (1.000-999.000), - miljon - - miljoni - - miljonit (1.000.000-999.000.000), - miljard - - miljardi - - miljardit (1.000.000.000); ordinal: esimene - esimese - esimest (1.), teine - teise - teist (2.), kolmas - kolmanda - kolmandat (3.), cardinal_genetive-s - cardinal_genetive-nda - cardinal_genetive-ndat (others)
- demonstrative (nominative - genetive - partitive, singular / plural): niisugune - niisuguse - niisugust (this kind), see - selle - seda / need - nende - neid (this/that), too - tolle - toda / nood - nonde - noid (yonder)
- interrogative (nominative - genetive - partitive): missugune - missuguse - missugust (what kind), milline - millise - millist (which)
- existential (nominative - genetive - partitive): mingisugune - mingisuguse - mingisugust (some kind), mõni - mõne - mõnda (some)
- free choice (nominative - genetive - partitive): mingisugune - mingisuguse - mingisugust (any kind), ükskõik milline - ükskõik millise - ükskõik millist (any)
- universal (nominative - genetive - partitive): kõik - kõige - kõike (every kind), iga - iga - iga (every)
| Declension of adjectives | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case | ||||||||||||||
| Number | Nominative | Genitive | Partitive | Illative | Inessive | Elative | Allative | Adessive | Ablative | Translative | Terminative | Essive | Abessive | Comitative |
| Singular | - | - | - | -sse | -s | -st | -le | -l | -lt | -ks | - | - | - | - |
| Plural | -d | -de / -te | -id / -sid / -e / -i / -u | -sse | -s | -st | -le | -l | -lt | -ks | - | - | - | - |
| Comparison of adjectives | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Degree | General |
| Positive | - |
| Comparative | -m |
| Superlative | -im / kõige -m |
[edit] Verbs
[edit] Finite
Inflectional endings as listed below are added to the stem of a verb, which is mostly formed from the present tense form by dropping personal inflections - this form is unpredictable (like the two infinitives) and has to be taken from the vocabulary; however, sometimes it can be guessed from the infinitives on the basis of gradation. The stem for the imperfect tense, for the oblique mode and for the -v participle is formed from the -ma infinitive by dropping -ma (if the stem ends with a consonant, an additional -i- is added in the singular third person of the imperfect or an additional -e- is added in the singular nominative of the participle, the consonant is doubled if it was short and preceding a short vowel; if the stem ends with -e while being two-syllable or if it ends with a long vowel, then the -s- is left out in all numbers and persons, a long vowel becomes short and o, ö are changed to õ). The stem for the imperative mood (except for the singular second person which is formed from the present tense form) and for the -nud participle is formed from the -da infinitive by dropping -da / -ta / -a (long final l, r become short, in spoken language -nud is shortened to -nd).
Emphasis: verb + -gi (after a final voiced consonant or vowel) / -ki (after a final voiceless consonant), verb + küll (positive), verb + mitte (negative).
Verb derivation: -ta- (transitive), -u- / -i- (reflexive), -el- / -le- (reciprocal), -ne- (translative), -ata- (momentary), -el- / -skle- (repetitive), -tse- (continuous).
| Conjugation of verbs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tense | |||||||||||
| Present | Imperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | ||||||||
| Mood | Voice | Number | Person | Positive | Negative | Positive | Negative | Positive | Negative | Positive | Negative |
| Indicative | |||||||||||
| Active | |||||||||||
| Singular | First | -n | ei - | -sin | ei -nud | olen -nud | ei ole -nud | olin -nud | ei olnud -nud | ||
| Second | -d | -sid | oled -nud | olid -nud | |||||||
| Third | -b | -s | on -nud | oli -nud | |||||||
| Plural | First | -me | -sime | oleme -nud | olime -nud | ||||||
| Second | -te | -site | olete -nud | olite -nud | |||||||
| Third | -vad | -sid | on -nud | olid -nud | |||||||
| Passive | / | -takse | ei -ta | -ti | ei -tud | on -tud | ei ole -tud | oli -tud | ei olnud -tud | ||
| Conditional | |||||||||||
| Active | |||||||||||
| Singular | First | -ksin | ei -ks | / | oleksin -nud | ei oleks -nud | / | ||||
| Second | -ksid | oleksid -nud | |||||||||
| Third | -ks | oleks -nud | |||||||||
| Plural | First | -ksime | oleksime -nud | ||||||||
| Second | -ksite | oleksite -nud | |||||||||
| Third | -ksid | oleksid -nud | |||||||||
| Passive | / | -taks | ei -taks | oleks -tud | ei oleks -tud | ||||||
| Imperative | |||||||||||
| Active | |||||||||||
| Singular | First | / | / | / | / | ||||||
| Second | - | ära - | |||||||||
| Third | -gu | ärgu -gu | olgu -nud | ärgu olgu -nud | |||||||
| Plural | First | -gem | ärgem -gem | / | |||||||
| Second | -ge | ärge -ge | |||||||||
| Third | -gu | ärgu -gu | olgu -nud | ärgu olgu -nud | |||||||
| Passive | / | -tagu | ärgu -tagu | olgu -tud | ärgu olgu -tud | ||||||
| Oblique | |||||||||||
| Active | |||||||||||
| Singular | First | -vat | ei -vat | / | olevat -nud | ei olevat -nud | / | ||||
| Second | |||||||||||
| Third | |||||||||||
| Plural | First | ||||||||||
| Second | |||||||||||
| Third | |||||||||||
| Passive | / | -tavat | ei -tavat | olevat -tud | ei olevat -tud | ||||||
[edit] Non-finite
The use of the -ma infinitive: after verbs of motion, after participles.
The use of the -da / -ta / -a infinitive: after verbs of emotion, after impersonal expressions, after et (in order to), if used as a subject.
The passive of the infinitive is formed with -ta-. The singular genetive and partitive of the present participles are formed with -a and -at; the perfect participles are not declined. The singular genetive and partitive of the gerunds are formed with -mise and -mist.
| Infinitives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | ||
| Case | -ma | -da |
| Illative | -ma | / |
| Inessive | -mas | -des |
| Elative | -mast | / |
| Translative | -maks | |
| Abessive | -mata | |
| Participles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tense | ||
| Voice | Present | Perfect |
| Active | -v | -nud |
| Passive | -tav | -tud |
| Gerunds |
|---|
| -mine |
[edit] Adverbs
Inflectional endings as listed below are added to the stem of an adverb, which is formed from:
- singular genetive of an adjective (-sti, -ti, -ldi, -li, -kesi): genetival type,
- singular ablative of an adjective (-lt): ablatival type (some can be declined in allative, adessive, ablative).
Some adverbs are special words - original or vestigial forms of an ancient instructive case.
- demonstrative (illative/allative - inessive/adessive - elative/ablative): siia - siin - siit (here), sinna - seal - sealt (there), nüüd (now), siis (then), seega (thus), seepärast (therefore)
- interrogative (illative/allative - inessive/adessive - elative/ablative): kuhu - kus - kust (where), millal (when), kuidas (how), miks (why)
- existential (illative/allative - inessive/adessive - elative/ablative): kuhugi - kuskil - kuskilt (somewhere), kunagi (sometime), kuidagi (somehow)
- free choice (illative/allative - inessive/adessive - elative/ablative): ükskõik kuhu - ükskõik kus - ükskõik kuht (anywhere), ükskõik millal (anytime), igatahes (anyhow)
- universal (illative/allative - inessive/adessive - elative/ablative): igale poole - igal pool - igalt poolt (everywhere), alati (always)
| Comparison of adverbs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | ||
| Degree | Genetival | Ablatival |
| Positive | - | -lt |
| Comparative | -mini | -malt |
| Superlative | kõige -mini | kõige -malt |
[edit] Adpositions
- with the genitive case and declinable (illative/allative - inessive/adessive - elative/ablative): alla - all - allt (under), ette - ees - eest (in front of), juurde - juures - juurest (at), järele - järel - järelt (after), keskele - keskel - keskelt (in the middle), kohale - kohal - kohalt (above), kõrvale - kõrval - kõrvalt (beside), kätte - käes - käest (in the hand of), lähedale - lähedal - lähedalt (near), peale - peal - pealt (on), sisse - sees - seest (in), taha - taga - tagant (behind), vahele - vahel - vahelt (between), äärde - ääres - äärest (by)
- with the genetive case and non-declinable: eest / jaoks (for), järgi (according to), kaudu (via), kohta (about), pärast (on account of), vastu (against), üle (over), ümber (aorund)
- with the partitive case: mööda (along)
- with the elative case: alla (down), läbi (through), peale / saadik (since)
- with the genitive case: läbi (through), peale (besides), üle (over), ümber (around)
- with the partitive case: alla (down), enne (before), kesk / keset (amid), mööda (along), piki (alongside), peale / pärast (after), vastu (against)
- with the terminative case: kuni (until)
- with the abessive case: ilma (without)
- with the comitative case: koos / ühes (with)
[edit] Word order
Estonian is a Subject Verb Object (SVO) language. Questions begin with an interrogative word (kas (yes/no-question), eks (yes-question), ega (no-question)), followed by the SVO word order (in spoken language, interrogative words are sometimes left out, but instead there is either a change in intonation or VSO word order). An adjective precedes the noun it modifies. An adverb of time precedes an adverb of place.
[edit] References
- Moseley, C. (1994). Colloquial Estonian: A Complete Language Course. London: Routledge.
- Tuldava, J. (1994). Estonian Textbook: Grammar, Exercises, Conversation. Bloomington: Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University.
