Lähtekeelt

Lähtekeelt is an Estonian term used in linguistics and translation studies to denote the source language—the language from which content is translated or adapted. The word is formed from lähte- (source) and keel (language), and is commonly employed in Estonian-language discussions of translation, localization, and language technology.

In practice, lähtekeelt is contrasted with sihtkeel, the target language. In translation workflows and computational systems, the source language must be identified and specified before producing a translation into the designated target language. Many software tools and datasets label the input as the lähtekeel or simply as the source language.

Applications of the concept include bilingual corpora, dictionaries, and localization pipelines, where recording the lähtekeelt of a text supports analysis of translation strategies and language transfer. In machine translation, knowing the lähtekeelt helps determine appropriate linguistic resources and modeling approaches for the translation task.

Grammatically, lähtekeelt may appear in inflected forms such as lähtekeelt (genitive or partitive) depending on Estonian syntax. The term is most common in contexts that discuss translation direction, language identification, or cross-linguistic transfer.

Notes: while some texts may use alternative terms like algkeel to refer to the original language, lähtekeelt remains widely understood in Estonian translation and language-technology circles as the precise label for the source language.