Laevadest

Laevadest is the elative plural form of the Estonian noun laev (ship). It literally means “from the ships” and is used to indicate origin or source when referring to multiple ships.

Formation and meaning: In Estonian, the elative case denotes movement from inside or origin. The plural elative suffix is -dest, which attaches to the genitive plural form laevade, producing laevadest. By comparison, the singular elative is laevast (“from the ship”). Thus laevadest functions as a grammatical marker to express origin in the plural.

Usage: Laevadest is commonly employed in contexts describing data, information, or material that originates from ships. It appears in phrases where the source is important, such as in reports, research, or logistics discussions. Typical collocations include laevadest kogutud andmed (data collected from ships) and laevadest pärinev teave (information originating from ships).

Examples:

- Laevadest kogutud andmed osutusid ebatäpseteks. (The data collected from ships proved inaccurate.)

- Laevadest pärinev teave viitas uuele merendustegevusele. (The information originating from ships pointed to new maritime activity.)

Notes: Laevadest is part of a broader Estonian system of cases, where the elative plural is used to denote origin with a plural noun. It is distinct from laevast (singular elative) and from other plural forms such as laevade (genitive plural). The choice between elative and other cases depends on context and the construction of the sentence.

See also: Estonian noun declension, Estonian cases, laev.