Käändesõltuva

Käändesõltuva is a linguistic term used in Estonian grammar to describe words that change their form based on their grammatical function within a sentence. This phenomenon is known as inflection and is a characteristic feature of many languages, including Estonian.

In Estonian, käändesõltuva words are primarily nouns, adjectives, and pronouns. These words can have multiple forms, known as cases, which indicate their grammatical role in a sentence. The most common cases in Estonian are nominative, genitive, partitive, illative, inessive, elative, allative, adessive, ablative, translative, terminative, essive, abessive, and comitative. Each case has a specific function, such as indicating the subject, object, location, or instrument of an action.

The inflectional system in Estonian is relatively complex, with each word form often having multiple endings. For example, the word "kõrts" (corridor) can appear in various forms like "kõrtsis" (in the corridor), "kõrtsist" (from the corridor), or "kõrtsi" (into the corridor). This complexity is a result of the language's historical development and its rich morphology.

Käändesõltuva words play a crucial role in Estonian grammar, as they help convey precise meanings and relationships between different elements in a sentence. Understanding the inflectional system is essential for both native speakers and learners of the language, as it affects word order and sentence structure.