Personaalseid

Personaalseid is a grammatical form found in Estonian, acting as the partitive plural form of the adjective personaalsed. In Estonian, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number and case, and the partitive plural form is used when the noun is in the partitive case or when an indefinite or partial quantity is being described. Therefore, personaalseid modifies a plural noun in the partitive case, and it is commonly translated as "personal" in the sense of characteristics or data that pertain to individuals, but described in partitive form.

Morphology and usage considerations: The base adjective personaalsed denotes something related to a person or personal. When combined with a suitable plural noun in the partitive case, the form changes to personaalseid. This form is most often seen in written Estonian in contexts dealing with data, characteristics, or preferences described as not fully specified or as an undetermined portion. It is important to distinguish this form from other cases and from the more common compound noun phrases that use isiku- or isikuandmed for “personal data.”

Common contexts: Personaalseid is frequently encountered in phrases such as personaalseid andmeid (personal data), personaalseid omadusi (personal characteristics), or personaalseid eelistusi (personal preferences). In privacy or data-protection discussions, this form appears when describing data attributes that identify or relate to an individual, often in a legal or policy context.

Notes: While personaalseid is a valid grammatical form, many modern Estonian texts prefer specific compound terms like isikuandmed for “personal data.” The use of personaalseid typically emphasizes the grammatical structure of a sentence rather than introducing a distinct lexical concept.