Dateeritakse

Dateeritakse is an Estonian linguistic term and verb form used to express that something has been dated or assigned a date. It comes from the verb dateerida (to date) and appears in the present tense in the passive voice with the suffix -takse. The phrase conveys that the dating of a document, artifact, or event has been established, typically by an archivist, historian, or researcher, rather than necessarily by the original creator.

In usage, dateeritakse functions as a statement about the dating result rather than the source text’s own date. It is common in archival descriptions, cataloging records, and academic writing. For example, a record might state, “Dokument dateeritakse 1834” meaning the document is dated to the year 1834. The related noun forms include dateerimine (the act of dating) and dateeritud (dated), used to describe an object that already bears a date.

The distinction between dateeritakse and dateeritud is subtle but practical. Dateeritakse emphasizes the process or the act of assigning a date, while dateeritud describes the state of having a confirmed date. These terms are part of archival science and historical methodology in Estonian, where precise dating is crucial for interpretation, provenance, and metadata.