Dokumentaalseid

Dokumentaalseid is an Estonian inflected form of the adjective dokumentaalne, meaning documentary. It is the plural partitive form used to describe multiple nouns that are in the partitive case or when referring to an indefinite quantity of items. In practice, dokumentaalseid modifies plural nouns such as filme or materjale in contexts like “dokumentaalseid filme” (documentary films) or “dokumentaalseid materjale” (documentary materials).

Morphology and usage are typical of Estonian adjectives, which decline for number, case and, in the plural, for the partitive. The base form is dokumentaalne (singular), and the plural partitive form becomes dokumentaalseid. This form is employed when the noun it modifies is in the partitive case or when the speaker is expressing an indefinite portion of the category.

In common usage, dokumentaalseid appears in media and academic contexts to describe documentary content, including films, television programs, and journalistic works. It distinguishes documentary material from fictional or other genres by signaling its documentary nature and often accompanying nouns in the partitive case.

Etymology links dokumentaalne to the international concept of “documentary,” with the Estonian adjective formed from the noun/document base dokument and the usual adjectival suffix pattern. The word is widely understood in Estonian to refer to non-fiction, informational, or factual documentary content, and its inflected forms follow standard Estonian grammar.

See also: dokumentaalfilm, dokumentaalne, film, media, Estonian grammar.