Järgsõnast

Järgsõnast is the Estonian term for postposition, a small class of function words that follow the noun or pronoun they govern. Unlike prepositions, which precede their complement, a järgsõnast appears after the noun and expresses grammatical or semantic relations such as location, direction, time, or manner.

In Estonian grammar, postpositions are used with noun phrases to specify relations that would otherwise be conveyed by inflection or word order. The noun in a phrase with a järgsõnast can be marked by the ordinary case system, and in some constructions the postposition may determine the expected case or form of the noun. The postposition itself is typically not inflected.

Järgsõnad are relatively few in number compared with eessõnad (prepositions). In Estonian, many relational meanings are expressed through the noun’s case endings rather than through separate postpositions, and some words can function as postpositions in certain contexts while serving other functions in different contexts, such as adverbs or particles.

Historical development has shaped järgsõnad from various sources, including older adverbs and other word classes. In contemporary Estonian, they remain a small but recognizable part of the grammar, providing post-nominal markers for space, time, direction, and other relations in a way that complements the language’s rich case system.