Eesti silbilis-rõhulise neljajalalise trohheuse rõhustruktuurist
The Accentual Rhythm of the Estonian Trochaic Tetrameter

Summary/Abstract: The present paper aims to give a systematic description of the formation and evolution of Estonian syllabic-accentual versification. The material for it is served by the most typical Estonian metre – trochaic tetrameter (T4) from the works of 20 authors from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The main purpose of the study is to find out whether the verse rhythm is a self-acting realization of the prosodic structure of the language or whether it has its own regularities. Secondly, it intends to describe the regularities of the Estonian T4. Thirdly, it attempts to find out whether the rhythmical structures may correlate in some way with the esthetic tendencies of an author and/or the period when they lived. The analysis reveals that there are two different rhythmical types in the Estonian T4, one of which is characteristic of traditionalist writers, while the other can be found in the works of modernist authors. The esthetic parameters are even more important than the chronological framework: the "simple" authors of the 20th century do not give up the traditionalist patterns

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