nimetavasõnalis

Nimetavasõnalis is a term that appears in some discussions of Estonian linguistics, but it is not a standard or widely agreed-upon label in established reference grammars. In many sources, the phrase is encountered as a nonce or neologism rather than as a fixed category with a single, universally accepted definition.

The word is a composite formed from nimetav (nominative) and sõna (word) with a suffix that resembles descriptive or adjectival formations. As such, nimetavasõnalis is generally treated as referring to something related to the nominative form of a word, or to the nominal behavior of a word when used in a naming or labeling context. Because it is not part of a canonical grammar, interpretations vary between authors and texts.

Possible interpretations include:

- A reference to the nominative form of a noun, i.e., the base form used for the subject in a sentence or as a headword.

- A descriptive label used in pedagogical or descriptive grammars to discuss how words are presented in dictionaries or language-learning materials, where the nominative form is highlighted as the canonical form.

- A broader discussional tag in typological works for phenomena connected to nominal forms and naming in a given language.

See also: Estonian grammar, Nominative case, Morphology, Headword in dictionaries. Because the term is not standard, readers should verify its definition within the specific source where they encounter it and compare it with established terminology for nominative usage and nominal forms.