käänetüvi

Käänetüvi is a term used in Estonian linguistics to describe the stem of a word that has undergone inflection. Inflection is the process of changing the form of a word, typically a noun, adjective, or verb, to express grammatical information such as case, number, or tense. The käänetüvi is the part of the word that remains after the inflectional suffix has been added.

For example, in the Estonian word "maja" (house), the nominative singular form is the base form. If we inflect it to the genitive singular, we get "maja", and to the partitive singular, we get "maja". However, in many cases, inflection involves adding a suffix. Consider the word "raamat" (book). The nominative singular is "raamat". The genitive singular is "raamatu", where "-u" is the genitive singular suffix, and "raamat" is the käänetüvi. The partitive singular is "raamatut", where "-t" is the partitive singular suffix, and "raamat" is again the käänetüvi.

The identification of the käänetüvi is crucial for understanding Estonian morphology and word formation. It helps in analyzing the grammatical structure of sentences and in determining the root meaning of words. Different cases and grammatical functions in Estonian are expressed by adding specific suffixes to this base stem. The concept of käänetüvi is fundamental to the study of Estonian grammar, aiding in the systematic analysis of word forms and their variations.