Õlgu

Õlgu is a term that appears in Estonian-language sources mainly in dialectal or historical contexts. In standard contemporary Estonian, the common noun for the shoulder is õlg; õlgu does not have a widely recognized independent meaning in current dictionaries. The form shows up in older texts and in linguistic studies as a dialectal variant or as part of lexical environments associated with the older speech strata. Its attestation is irregular, with references often dating from the 18th to 19th centuries; in modern usage it is largely considered archaic or marginal.

In lexicographic references, õlgu is not typically treated as a separate primary entry and is usually described as a dialectal variant of õlg, or as an inflected or surface form occurring in specific phonological or morpho-syntactic contexts. Because the available corpus is limited, precise meanings and syntactic functions for õlgu remain unclear outside particular texts. There is no single, widely accepted definition or usage that applies today.

See also: Estonian language, õlg, Estonian dialects, Võro and Seto dialects. References to õlgu are mainly found in historical lexicons and dialect surveys; for researchers, primary sources from regional dialect literature and old grammatical works are the most informative starting points.