puhumisel

Puhumisel is an Estonian grammatical form that functions as an adverbial noun meaning “in speaking” or “during speaking.” It denotes the circumstance under which an action takes place, typically indicating that something occurs while someone is speaking rather than during other activities. The form is often used in written and formal Estonian to provide circumstantial information about the main clause.

Morphology: The word is formed from the noun puhumine, which denotes the act of speaking or speech, plus the adessive singular suffix -sel, yielding puhumisel. The adessive suffix signals a temporal and situational relation rather than a tense. As an adverbial noun, puhumisel can modify verbs or entire clauses, contributing a temporal frame such as “during speaking.”

Usage: Puhumisel appears in contexts where the speaker wants to set the frame of reference around speech acts, interruptions, or the dynamics of dialogue. It is distinct from other noun forms such as puhumise (genitive) or puhumine (nominative) and from verb forms. In descriptive and academic grammars, puhumisel is discussed alongside other Estonian adessive nominalizations and circumstantial adjuncts.

Related concepts: Estonian grammar; noun cases; adessive; nominalization; circumstantial adjunct.