traditsiooniliste

Traditsiooniliste is an Estonian adjective form meaning “traditional,” specifically the genitive plural form of traditsiooniline. In Estonian, adjectives agree with the noun they modify in number and case; when the noun is plural and in the genitive case, the adjective takes the ending -iliste. This form is used to describe nouns that are in genitive plural, often to indicate possession, attribution, or description within a noun phrase.

Common uses include phrases such as traditsiooniliste rituaalide, meaning “of traditional rituals,” and traditsiooniliste väärtuste, meaning “of traditional values.” The corresponding nominative plural form is traditsioonilised, which would modify nouns in nominative plural, for example traditsioonilised kommet (“traditional customs”). The genitive plural form, traditsiooniliste, frequently appears in formal, descriptive, or academic writing, as well as in policy and ethnographic language.

Etymology reflects its formation from traditsioon (tradition) plus the standard Estonian adjective suffix -iline, with the inflected ending -iliste following the genitive plural pattern. As a grammatical inflection rather than a standalone concept, traditsiooniliste is best understood as the genitive plural agreement of the adjective traditsiooniline.