Teoriliste

Teoriliste is the genitive plural form of the Estonian adjective teoriline, meaning theoretical. It is used to attribute a noun to indicate theoretical in nature, especially in academic and analytical writing.

In Estonian, adjectives decline to agree with the noun in number, case, and gender; in the genitive plural, teoriline becomes teoriliste. For example: teaduste teooriate? Actually, better examples include: teoreetiliste ideede (of theoretical ideas), teoreetiliste raamatute (of theoretical books), teoreetiliste kontseptsioonide (of theoretical concepts).

Etymology: teoriline derives from teooria, meaning theory, which in turn traces to Greek/Latin roots that entered Estonian through European languages such as German or French. The noun teooria and the related adjective teoriline were established during the development of Estonian scientific and academic language in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Usage notes: The form teoriliste is neutral in tone and is predominantly found in scholarly, scientific, and analytical writing to distinguish theoretical aspects from empirical or practical ones. It appears specifically as the genitive plural form of the adjective, used to qualify plural nouns in the genitive case.