Punase

Punase is the genitive singular form of the Estonian adjective punane, meaning red. It is used when the color modifier describes a noun in the genitive case, or when the noun itself is in a context that requires genitive agreement. In everyday usage, punase appears in phrases such as punase auto, meaning “of the red car” or “red car” in a genitive construction, and punase joone all, meaning “under the red line.” The form is a standard inflected variant rather than a separate lexical item.

Form and usage notes: Estonian adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number and case. For a singular noun in the genitive case, the adjective takes the ending -e, producing punase. The base form punane is used in the nominative singular (a red car would be punane auto). Other cases and numbers generate different endings, while punane remains the lemma for the color “red.”

Etymology: Punane originates from the Finnic language family and is cognate with Finnish punainen and related forms in other Finnic languages. The word has a long attested history in Estonian as the basic color term for red.

In summary, punase is not a separate word with independent meaning beyond the color red; it is the genitive singular form of punane used in noun phrases where the noun is in the genitive or otherwise grammatically linked in that case.