varustavast

Varustavast is a linguistic term used in some discussions of Estonian grammar to refer to a specific inflected form associated with the participial adjective varustav, which originates from the verb varustama meaning to equip or provide. The base sense of varustav is “providing” or “equipping,” and descriptions of varustavast appear mainly in academic or descriptive works that focus on how participial adjectives inflect and interact with nouns in different grammatical contexts.

In these analyses, varustavast is presented as a particular form that can occur in limited syntactic environments, often when the participial adjective is part of a larger noun phrase and requires a case or concord marking. The form is not widely attested in everyday modern Estonian usage, where the non-inflected participial adjective varustav is more common for attributive purposes. Varustavast is thus of interest primarily to linguists studying how Estonian handles agreement, case marking, and the interaction between verbs as predicates and adjectives used attributively.

Etymologically, varustavast traces to the root varust-, related to varustama “to equip/provide,” with the participial suffix and any inflectional endings applied as described in grammar sources. For readers seeking further detail, standard Estonian grammar references and corpora on participles and attributive adjectives provide background on the broader patterns this form illustrates.

See also: Estonian language, participles, attributive adjectives, varustama.