tähendusele

Tähendusele is the allative form of the Estonian noun tähendus, which means meaning, sense, or significance. In Estonian, tähendus refers to the semantic content of a word, expression, or symbol—the sense or importance it conveys within a language system. In linguistics and philosophy, tähendus denotes the content or cognitive aspect associated with a sign, distinct from its viide (reference) in the world.

The allative form tähendusele is used in constructions that require a grammatical case indicating direction toward or toward the topic of discussion. As a grammatical form, it signals the relationship of the noun to verbs, prepositions, or other elements in a sentence without changing the inherent meaning of the word.

In discourse, tähendus can be extended to denotation, sense, connotation, and significance, with phrases describing deep meaning (sügav tähendus) or contextual meaning (kontekstuaalne tähendus). The distinction between tähendus and viide is central in semantics: tähendus concerns the content or sense of a sign, while viide denotes the actual object or concept to which the sign refers.

See also: tähendus, viide, semantika.