Sõnastatuna

Sõnastatuna is an Estonian grammatical term describing an adverbial participle form derived from the verb sõnastama, meaning “to word” or “to phrase.” The form literally means “being worded” or “as worded” and is used to indicate the way something is expressed in words rather than as a paraphrase or interpretation. In linguistic descriptions, sõnastatuna functions as a non-finite verb form that can modify a clause or sentence to specify the manner or exact wording.

Formation and morphology: The word is built from the stem sõnast- with the suffix -atuna, which marks adverbial participles in Estonian. It corresponds to English “worded” in the sense of indicating the precise wording of a statement. Sõnastatuna contrasts with participles such as sõnastatud (“worded/phrased”) in that it is used adverbially to describe the manner of presentation rather than the property of the thing.

Usage: The term is found mainly in linguistic, lexicographic, and scholarly texts about Estonian syntax and semantics. It is less common in everyday language and can appear in discussions of how a source or instruction is formulated. When used, it often introduces a description that refers to the exact wording of a source or specification.

Relation to other forms: Sõnastatud (past passive participle) and sõnastama (verb) are closely related; sõnastatuna is a non-finite form derived from the same root and serves a distinct syntactic function as an adverbial participle.

See also: Estonian grammar, participles, word formation, lexicography.