empiirilisele

Empiirilisele is the Estonian allative singular form of the adjective empiiriline, meaning empirical. It is used when the noun it modifies is in the allative case, to express movement toward, reference to, or application to something empirical. For example, empiirilisele uuringule means “to the empirical study,” and empiirilisele meetodile means “to the empirical method.”

Grammar and usage in Estonian: Adjectives in Estonian agree with the nouns they modify in case and number. When the noun is in the allative singular, the corresponding form of empiiriline is empiirilisele. This form is commonly found in academic and scientific writing to indicate that a noun (such as a study, method, or evidence) relates to empirical rather than theoretical considerations. The plural allative form would be empiirilistele, used with plural nouns in the allative case (for example, empiirilistele andmetele, “to the empirical data”).

Common contexts: The term appears in discussions of research design, data analysis, and evidence evaluation to emphasize empirical aspects. Phrases frequently seen include empiirilisele uuringule, empiirilisele meetodile, and empiirilisele tõendile, all signaling a focus on knowledge gained through observation or experiment.

Etymology: The word empiiriline stems from empiiria (empiricism), itself borrowed into Estonian from European linguistic sources. The broader root ultimately traces to classical terms related to experience and observation. Empiirilisele, as a morphological form, reflects the standard Estonian pattern of inflecting adjectives to match the case and number of the noun they modify.

See also: empiiriline, empiricism, Estonian grammar.