Katsauksena

Katsauksena is an Estonian grammatical form meaning “as a review” or “in the form of a review.” It is the translative case of the noun katsaus, which denotes an overview, survey, or report. The translative case expresses a change of role or function, indicating that the referenced text is intended to function as a review rather than as a primary study or narrative.

In usage, katsauksena appears mainly in formal writing, particularly academic and journalistic prose, to frame a document as a review of a topic, work, or body of research. It is common in constructions with verbs such as esitatakse (is presented), käsitletakse (is treated), or on (is), for example: Käesolev töö esitatakse katsauksena 2023. aasta uuringutele. Käesolev ülevaade esitatakse katsauksena Eesti kirjandusele viimase sajandi jooksul.

The form is syntactic rather than lexical in its casing, and it does not change for different subjects; the suffix -na marks its translative function. While it is most often found in written academic contexts, katsauksena can also appear in analytical reports or bibliographic notes where a text is explicitly positioned as a review or critique rather than as new empirical work.

Overall, katsauksena serves as a precise linguistic tool for signaling the evaluative or summarizing nature of a document within Estonian, clarifying that the piece functions as a review of existing material rather than as original research.