Estonianform

Estonianform is a term used in linguistics and computational lexicography to denote a standardized morphological representation of Estonian words. It provides a consistent schema for encoding lemmas, parts of speech, and all inflected forms used in Estonian, enabling researchers and tools to interchange lexical data.

A typical Estonianform record includes: lemma (the canonical dictionary form), part of speech, and a set of grammatical features such as case and number for nouns and adjectives, or tense, mood, and person for verbs. The record also contains a catalog of surface forms generated by applying language-specific declension and conjugation rules. Some implementations attach frequency data, usage notes, and dialect variants to the entry.

Origin and usage: Estonianform emerged in the context of digital lexica and natural language processing for Estonian to support multilingual NLP pipelines, language learning resources, and open data projects. It is discussed in academic and technical literature and is used by open-source morphology tools and language databases to harmonize data formats across resources.

Example: For a noun lemma such as "kodu" (home), an Estonianform entry would specify the paradigm's features and link to surface forms produced by case and number rules. The entry emphasizes the underlying grammatical structure rather than listing every surface form in navigation interfaces.

Relation to other concepts: Estonianform is analogous to paradigm-based lexicon schemas used for other languages, adapted to Estonian’s morphology. It supports interoperability, scalable lexicon development, and more reliable NLP processing.

See also: Morphological lexicon, Lexical databases, Natural language processing, Finno-Ugric linguistics.