Sõnakuju

Sõnakuju is an Estonian linguistic term that translates to "word form." It refers to the specific shape or inflected form of a word as it appears in a sentence. This concept is crucial in understanding Estonian grammar, which is highly inflectional.

Estonian words change their endings to indicate grammatical function, such as case, number, and tense. For example, the nominative singular form of the noun "maja" (house) is "maja." However, in the genitive singular, it becomes "maja," and in the partitive singular, it is "maja." In the plural, the nominative is "majad," the genitive is "majade," and the partitive is "maju." Each of these inflected forms is a distinct sõnakuju.

The study of sõnakuju involves analyzing how words are modified and the rules governing these changes. Linguists examine the paradigms of declension (for nouns, adjectives, pronouns) and conjugation (for verbs) to map out all possible sõnakujud for a given lexeme. Understanding sõnakuju is essential for both native speakers and learners of Estonian to correctly use and interpret the language. It highlights the synthetic nature of Estonian, where grammatical information is often encoded directly onto the word itself.