Kõrvutada

Kõrvutada is an Estonian verb that is rarely used in contemporary standard Estonian. It occurs mainly in older texts and some regional dialects, and its precise meaning is not consistently attested in modern dictionaries. Because of its scarcity, the term is typically treated as archaic or literary.

Etymology and form: The word is built from the noun kõrv (“ear”) and the common Estonian verb suffix -uda, which marks many causative or intensive actions. The semantic link between “ear” and the verb’s sense is unclear in surviving sources; scholars have suggested senses related to listening, hearing, or speaking into someone’s ear, but there is no widely agreed definition.

Usage and register: Due to limited attestation, kõrvutada is rarely encountered in everyday speech. When it appears, it is most often in historical, poetic, or dialectal texts rather than in standard prose. Because of its rarity, it may invite ambiguity or misinterpretation, and it is generally avoided in formal writing.

Conjugation: As a regular -uda verb, kõrvutada would follow standard Estonian verb conjugation patterns for the infinitive, finite tenses, and participles, but exact attestations of its paradigm are scarce. Learners are advised to consult comprehensive dictionaries or corpus resources if they encounter the word.