mittekõik

Mittekõik is an Estonian quantifier meaning “not all” or “not everyone.” It is used to indicate that within a group, some members do not share a specified property or outcome. The phrase is common in everyday speech as well as in written Estonian.

Etymology and form: mittekõik is formed from the negation particle mitte and the determiner kõik, meaning all. The combination yields mittekõik with a connecting t for phonological smoothness. In more explicit negation, speakers may also say mitte kõik, as two words in some registers.

Usage and examples: Mittekõik inimesed teavad vastust. Not all people know the answer. Mittekõik lapsed käisid koolis. Not all children attended school. In clauses, the phrase can be used with present or past tense: Mittekõik olid valmis. Not everyone was ready.

Linguistic and logical perspective: In everyday Estonian, mittekõik expresses non-universal quantification and places emphasis on an incomplete overlap with the property in question. In formal logic and mathematics, mittekõik corresponds to the negation of a universal claim, i.e., not all x P(x), which is classically equivalent to there exists an x such that not P(x).

See also: Kõik; Mitte; Loogika; Estonian quantifiers.