Tavalistest

Tavalistest is the elative plural form of the Estonian adjective tavaline, meaning ordinary or common. It is used to indicate origin or source from a group described by the adjective, and it appears in phrases such as tavalistest inimestest, meaning “from among ordinary people” or “about ordinary people.”

In standard Estonian grammar, adjectives inflect for number and case to agree with the noun. The elative plural form tavalistest is used when the accompanying noun is plural and in the elative case, as in tavalistest inimestest (from among ordinary people) or arvamused tavalistest inimestest (opinions from ordinary people). The construction conveys perspective, characteristics, or information associated with that group rather than with the speaker or a defined elite.

Usage of tavalistest tends to occur in sociological writing, journalism, and literary prose, where authors contrast the experiences or views of the general public with those of more specialized or privileged groups. It functions as a grammatical marker rather than a standalone lexical item, and its meaning derives from the noun it accompanies.

See also: tavaline, Estonian grammar, elative case.

Note: As a grammatical form rather than a standalone concept, tavalistest is encountered in phrases that refer to groups described by ordinary or common attributes, rather than as an independent term with a fixed definition.