lõunas

Lõunas is an Estonian adverbial form derived from the noun lõuna, which has two common meanings: "south" (a cardinal direction) and "lunch" (the midday meal). As lõunas it functions primarily in the inessive case and is used to indicate location or state: "in the south" when referring to geography, and "at lunch" when referring to a person or event.

Usage examples in Estonian include:

- Ta elab lõunas. (He/she lives in the south.)

- Olen praegu lõunas. (I am at lunch right now.)

Grammatically, lõunas contrasts with other case forms of lõuna such as lõunasse ("to the south"/"to lunch") and lõunast ("from the south"/"after lunch/from lunch"). The form is commonly used in everyday speech for both spatial and temporal/occupational contexts.

Etymology and cognates: lõuna is inherited from Proto-Finnic and is cognate with Finnish lounas, which similarly denotes both a direction (southwest in some dialectal uses) and the midday meal. The dual meaning of "south" and "midday meal" is a feature shared across several Finnic languages.

In cultural context, lõunas as "at lunch" appears in schedules and social contexts to indicate a temporary absence, while lõunas as "in the south" is used in descriptions of regional location, climate, and travel.