lausetapa

Lausetapa is a term used in some Estonian linguistic writings to denote a clause-level unit within a sentence. The exact meaning varies by author, but a common reading is that a lausetapa is the smallest syntactic unit that can express a proposition, and that a sentence may comprise one or more lausetapad.

Types and function: A lausetapa can be independent (a main or independent clause) or subordinate (introduced by a subordinating conjunction). Main clauses express the primary proposition; subordinate clauses function as complements, modifiers, or adverbial clauses within a larger sentence. In Estonian and many other languages, clauses are linked by conjunctions or punctuation; a sentence can be a single lausetapa or a sequence of lausetapad connected by coordinating or subordinating elements.

Morphology and syntax: The lausetapa contains a predicate, typically a finite verb in Estonian, and its arguments (subject, object and other complements). The clause may carry tense, mood, and voice expressed through the verb, agreement with the subject, and other inflections.

Representation: In traditional phrase-structure analyses, a lausetapa corresponds to a clause (CP/TP) within a larger structure; in dependency grammars, it is a rooted structure with a predicate as its core and dependents as arguments or modifiers.

Examples: "Koer magab." -> a simple lausetapa (The dog sleeps). "Ma arvan, et ta tuleb." -> a sentence with two lausetapad: main clause "Ma arvan" and subordinate "et ta tuleb."

Notes: The term is not universally standard; some grammars use "lause" or "lausetüüp" to refer to similar concepts. See also lause, lausetüüp.