Tagajärgi

Tagajärgi is the partitive plural form of the Estonian noun tagajärg, meaning the consequences or aftereffects that follow an action or event. The term is used to describe outcomes that result from a cause, encompassing short-term results as well as longer-term effects. In analysis, reporting, and communication, tagajärgi help convey what happened as a result of a particular decision, incident, or process.

Etymology and sense: tagajärg combines elements that convey following or after, indicating things that come after a primary cause. The word is closely related to discussions of causality, where distinctions are often made between causes, mechanisms, and the resulting tagajärgi.

Usage: Tagajärgi is common in journalism, science, policy analysis, law, and risk management. It is frequently contrasted with a cause (põhjus) and with immediate versus long-term effects. In practical writing, tagajärgi may be described as anticipated, observed, indirect, or direct, depending on the context and the level of causality being discussed.

Examples: Tagajärgi võivad hõlmata majanduslikke, sotsiaalseid või keskkonnamõjusid. Riskianalüüsides hinnatakse potentsiaalseid tagajärgi ning planeeritakse nende leevendamist. Lõpp- või keskmiseks mõistmiseks võib öelda, et kavandatud poliitika toob kaasa mitmeid tagajärgi, millest osa on soovitavad ja osa kahjulikud.

See also: tagajärg (singular form), põhjus, mõju, kõrvalmõju.

Note: Tagajärgi describes the effects that follow from a given cause and is a standard term across Estonian-language analyses and reporting.