Mittehävitav

Mittehävitav is a linguistic and morphological term in Estonian, referring to a phenomenon where the finite form of a verb is different from its infinitive form. Thiscategory of verbs does not undergo a semantically significant change when moving from the infinitive to the finite form. Verbs exhibiting this characteristic retain the same stem in both forms, resulting in a finite form that is identical to the infinitive.

In Estonian, verbs belonging to the category of mittehävitav typically lose their thematic and modal inflections as well. This means that these verbs do not carry the suffixes that are attached to other types of verbs in the finite form. Thematic suffixes and modal auxiliary verbs often modify the structural interplay between the base form of a verb and its finite morphology. By losing these suffixes, mittehävitav verbs display a constrained set of possible inflection patterns.

It is essential to note that not all Estonian verbs belong to the category of mittehävitav. A significant number of verbs exhibit more complex finite morphology, reflecting changing semantic aspects through the use of separate infinitive and finite forms. The omission of pattern-changing suffixes for mittehävitav verbs categorically sets their infinitive and finite morphology as synthetically equivalent in function.