Omandivormideks

Omandivormideks is a linguistic term used to describe the set of forms that express possession in a language. The term is formed from oma, meaning “own,” and vorm, meaning “form,” and it is sometimes encountered in Estonian-language grammar discussions to refer to possessive constructions. In broad terms, omandivormideks covers the ways languages mark ownership on nouns or through related elements in a sentence.

The concept is most often discussed in contrast to other strategies for indicating possession. Across languages, possessive forms can arise in two general ways: periphrastic, where a separate possessive determiner or pronoun accompanies the noun (for example, my book, your house); and inflectional, where a form on the possessed noun itself signals the possessor (often via a genitive or a dedicated possessive suffix or ending). Both approaches fulfill the same semantic function—showing ownership—but they differ in how closely possession is tied to the possessed noun's morphology.

In Estonian grammar and related linguistic literature, omandivormideks is used to categorize these possessive forms as a coherent class. The label helps describe how ownership relationships are encoded, how they interact with word order, and how they align with pronoun systems and case marking in a given language.

See also: possessive case, genitive, possessive determiner, Estonian grammar.