Kunstlikke

Kunstlikke is an Estonian inflected form of the adjective kunstlik, meaning artificial or man-made. In Estonian, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number and case, and kunstlikke represents a specific grammatical form rather than a standalone lexical item.

Kunstlikke is the partitive plural form of kunstlik. This form is used when the modified noun is plural and in the partitive case, for example in constructions that express an indefinite quantity or are governed by certain verbs or numerals that require the partitive. The corresponding forms in other cases and numbers include kunstlikud for nominative plural and kunstlike for genitive plural. The partitive plural form, kunstlikke, is thus a key part of the adjective’s full inflection pattern.

Etymology: kunstlik is formed from the noun kunst (art, craft) with the adjectival suffix -lik (like, -ful of), yielding “art-like” or “artificial.” The inflected form kunstlikke inherits this meaning and adapts to Estonian grammar through its case and number.

Usage notes: Kunstlikke commonly describes things that are not occurring naturally but produced by human processes, such as kunstlikke materjale (artificial materials) or kunstlikke iluvormid (artificial beauty forms). As with other Estonian adjectives, its form changes to reflect the grammatical role of the noun in the sentence.

See also: kunstlik, tehislik (alternative terms for artificial), Estonian grammar.