Vormitähendus

Vormitähendus is an Estonian linguistic term that translates roughly to "form meaning" or "shape meaning." It refers to the meaning that a word or phrase conveys through its grammatical form rather than its lexical content. This can include information about tense, mood, case, number, gender, and other grammatical categories. For example, the difference between "tuleb" (he/she/it comes) and "tulevad" (they come) in Estonian is a formtähendus, indicating singular versus plural subject. Similarly, the case ending of a noun can signal its grammatical function within a sentence, such as subject, object, or possessor. Vormitähendus plays a crucial role in understanding the relationships between words in a sentence and in conveying precise grammatical information. It is a key concept in the analysis of Estonian grammar and morphology, highlighting how grammatical structures themselves carry significant meaning. The study of vormitähendus helps linguists understand the intricate ways in which meaning is encoded in language, beyond the individual meanings of words.