Kunstlikul

Kunstlikul is a form of the Estonian adjective kunstlik, meaning artificial or man-made. It is the adessive singular form used when the modified noun is in the adessive case. In Estonian, adjectives decline to agree with the noun in number and case, so kunstlikul appears in constructions where the sense is “on (an) artificial …” or “in an artificial way alongside a noun in the adessive.”

In common usage, kunstlikul often appears in phrases that express manner, purpose, or condition. Examples include kunstlikul viisil (in an artificial manner) and kunstlikul eesmärgil (for artificial purposes). The form is primarily a grammatical variant rather than a separate lexical meaning; the underlying meaning remains artificial or synthetic.

For contrast, other inflected forms of kunstlik include kunstliku (genitive singular), kunstlikku (partitive singular), and kunstlikult (adverb meaning “artificially”). The adverb kunstlikult is used when modifying verbs, whereas kunstlikul typically modifies a noun in the adessive case.

Etymology traces kunstlikul to the base adjective kunstlik, formed from kunst (art, craft) with the -lik suffix meaning “like” or “characteristic of.” The word is standard in written and spoken Estonian and is encountered in educational, scientific, and technical contexts when describing artificial methods, materials, or phenomena.

See also: kunstlik (dictionary entry), kunstlikult (adverb), artificial and synthetic terminology in Estonian.