Optatiivseid

Optatiivseid is a plural form of the Estonian adjective optatiivne, used to describe occurrences of the optative mood in grammar. The optative mood expresses wishes, blessings, prayers, or hopes that something will happen. It is a cross-linguistic mood with various realizations: in some languages it has its own finite verb forms, in others it appears as periphrastic constructions or uses of particles.

Typologically, the optative is distinct from the indicative and other moods. It is often contrasted with the subjunctive, hortative, or jussive in languages that mark wishes or exhortations explicitly. The exact morphology and usage vary by language; some languages have dedicated optative endings, while others express optative meaning through modal verbs, particles, or certain verb forms.

In practice, optative forms are used to convey wishes for the future, blessings for others, or polite or formal requests. English renders this mood with may, let, or hope clauses: for example, “May you be healthy,” “Let there be peace,” or “May it happen soon.” In Ancient Greek, the optative is a well-documented mood, with forms such as λύοι (let him release) and εἴη (be it), used in prayers, wishes, and potential statements. In many modern languages, the optative survives only in literary or historical registers, or is expressed through other constructions (for example, the conditional or imperative with softening particles).

Optatiivseid thus denotes the category of forms and expressions used to express wishes or hopes in languages that feature or historically featured an optative mood. See also mood, subjunctive, hortative, and jussive.