Põhendamine

Põhendamine is a term used in Estonian-language scholarship to describe the act of binding elements together to form a coherent whole. The precise sense of the term varies by field, but it generally connotes establishing a basis, connection, or integration among components, clauses, or ideas. The noun is formed from the verb underlying its sense and the -amine suffix that marks processes or activities.

In linguistics and discourse studies, põhendamine refers to cohesion: how sentences and parts of text are linked through referents, connectors, and lexical chains to create a unified argument or narrative. It covers pronoun reference, repetition of key terms, and cohesion devices such as conjunctions and transitions. Effective põhendamine reduces ambiguity and improves readability.

In law, administration, and contract work, põhendamine denotes establishing the grounds or basis for a claim, obligation, or decision. It involves drawing on statutes, precedents, evidentiary material, and contractual clauses to ground conclusions and obligations.

See also: cohesion, binding, grounding, basis, connection, linguistic cohesion, legal basis.