Otsitavaks

Otsitavaks is an Estonian grammatical form used to indicate that someone or something is to be sought or is being sought. It appears chiefly in formal, legal, and public notices, where it functions as a predicative modifier describing a person or item that authorities are actively pursuing or requesting. The form is often encountered in phrases such as someone being declared or announced as “otsitavaks.”

Morphology and etymology: otsitavaks is built from the verb stem otsi- (from otsida, to search) and the participial form otsitav, combined with the translative suffix -aks, which in Estonian expresses a transformation into a state or role. In use, otsitavaks can be paired with verbs like kuulutada (to declare/announce) to produce constructions such as ta on otsitavaks kuulutatud (he/she has been declared to be sought).

Usage and examples: The primary domain is law enforcement and public notices. For example: Politsei on ta otsitavaks kuulutanud. (The police have declared him/her to be wanted.) In more general register, it can appear in media coverage describing a person or item characterized as “to be sought.” The form is also seen in contemporary writing where authorities label records or persons as otsitavaks to indicate an active search.

Other contexts: In information management or data handling, otsitavaks can appear in a broader sense meaning “searchable” or “to be searchable,” especially in phrases like otsitavaks märgitud fail (file marked as searchable).

See also: otsida, otsima, otsitav (participial form), kuulutada.