keeltekäikude
Keeltekäikude is a term used in Estonian linguistics to describe the pathways through which languages and language repertoires develop, are used, and change within a speech community over time. It encompasses both historical change and everyday variation in language use, including how speakers acquire, maintain and switch between languages and linguistic resources in different contexts.
Etymology and scope: The word is formed from keel (language) and käik (path, course), with the possessive
Core concepts: Keeltekäikude covers language repertoire, domains of use (home, school, work, media), and sociolinguistic factors
Methods and applications: Studies often use sociolinguistic interviews, questionnaires, corpus analysis of spoken and written data,
Examples and relations: In multilingual contexts like Estonia, Estonian and Russian interactions can exemplify keeltekäikude phenomena,
See also: language contact, diglossia, code-switching, language maintenance, language shift, sociolinguistics.