meeldivana

Meeldivana is a term used in Estonian linguistics to describe a specific grammatical form derived from the adjective meeldiv, meaning “pleasant.” In this context, meeldivana is the translative form of the adjective, a suffixal construction that marks a change of state or role, roughly translating to “as pleasant” or “in a pleasant capacity” in English. The translative suffix -na is a standard feature in Estonian morphology for signaling such transformations, and meeldivana belongs to a family of forms that describe how something is experienced, designated, or categorized.

In usage, meeldivana is most often encountered in descriptive or literary contexts and is not a frequent feature of everyday spoken Estonian. Modern speech tends to favor adverbial expressions like meeldivalt (pleasantly) for modifying verbs, while meeldivana appears primarily in formal or archaic registers, grammars, and philological discussions. Because it is a specialized form, it is typically analyzed within studies of Estonian adjective inflection and case-like suffixes rather than as a product of common sentence construction.

Etymology and related forms: meeldivana is built from the adjective meeldiv plus the translative suffix -na, aligning with other Estonian translative formations that express a state or role. Related discussions may compare this form with other translative adjectival forms and with the more common adverbial variant meeldivalt for expressing manner.

See also: Estonian grammar, translative case, adjectival inflection.