Sõnakujude varieerumisest varases eesti leksikograafias
Variations in written word forms reflected in early Estonian lexicography

Summary/Abstract: This article examines variations in Estonian written dictionary words during the 17th and 18th centuries, drawing upon a corpus based on the six earliest dictionaries containing Estonian: Stahl 1637, Gutslaff 1648, Göseken 1660, Vestring c. 1720s (only available as a manuscript until fully digitized and printed in 1998), Helle 1732, and Hupel 1780 (the Estonian–German section). The sample comprises 230 lexicalised designations of occupational titles and societal roles that appear in at least three of the aforementioned sources. The aim of the study is to analyse how this sample reflects some of the most significant linguistic variations within the context of that period.The 17th and 18th centuries constituted a transitional period from Emergent Literary Estonian to Early Modern Literary Estonian. A number of variatons can be detected. Firstly, syncope, i.e. the loss of a vowel in an unstressed position from within a word form, and apocope, i.e. the loss of a word-final vowel. For example, Gutslaff’s laulama versus later laulma; Gutslaff’s and Göseken’s nunne, nunna versus the modern form (also found in Vestring) nunn. Secondly, variation of word-initial h: the corpus demonstrates a highly stable use of h in word-initial position, yet simultaneously illustrates its (non-)use in certain word forms, with Hupel drawing particular attention to such word forms. Thirdly, variations in diphthongs: ä > äe (käemees), ä > ea (heategija), ai > ae (vaenlane). Fourthly, the use of o and u in open syllables in non-initial position. For example, the use of o in open non-initial syllables has disappeared from modern Standard Estonian, yet from Stahl to Hupel we may observe o-forms in the dictionaries in considerable numbers (the authors’ dialectal backgrounds play a role here). Simultaneously, the abandonment of these forms can be traced: sola puhhoja, found in Vestring, appears in Helle and Hupel as sola(-)puhhuja. Fifthly, nominative versus genitive compounding in compound words. The examples show no definitive declination to using either a nominative or a genitive formation, a challenge that persists even today. Finally, a small number of agentive derivations (-ja, -mees) make up a large number of all professional titles’ and societal roles’ denominations.

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