Moodustusviisi ja tähenduse vahekorrast eesti värvinimetustes
Estonian colour names: Relations between structure and meaning

Summary/Abstract: Estonian words for colours are often produced by adding an adjectival suffix to a noun stem. The most productive adjectival suffix -ne does not change the meaning of the word. The meaning of adjectives with the suffixes ‑kas and ‑jas, which occur frequently among colour names, depends on the part of speech of the derivation base. Denominal adjectives describe the colour on the basis of its similarity to an object (e.g. savikas ‘clay-coloured’ < N savi ‘clay’). If the suffix ‑kas or ‑jas (in Võru dialect -kane or -jane) has been attached to an adjective, the terms express partial hue content in a colour (e.g. hallikas ‘greyish’ < Adj. hall ‘grey’. Some moderating colour terms are derivatives with an ik- or lik-suffix. Compounds and phrasal units make up nearly 80% of all Estonian colour terms. A term consisting of two or more words can conditionally be divided into two parts: the final component is the base word, while the initial one carries the attributive function. Either component may, in turn, be a root word, a suffixed derivative, or a compound or phrase. Colours are often described by phrases in which the final component is not inflected either in case or in number. This may be either (1) a parameter word meaning ‘coloured’ (e.g. värvi, karva) or an adjectival derivative from the stem (värviline, karvaline, etc.); or (2) a moderating adverb or adjective (e.g. ‑võitu, ‑sugune, ‑poolne). A large number of Estonian colour names are motivated by the comparison with the colour of a well-known object. A closer look at such phrasal terms revealed that the combination of a part of speech and the way of compounding has a semantic function. Many colour names have their origin in a colouring substance. Borrowed foreign terms are often adapted to fit the Estonian phonetic and lexical system, and sometimes have an absolutely strange word stem (e.g. Gm Orleans > Est ordijoon, ort, etc.). Colour naming represents an open system in Estonian and everybody can find creative ways to describe colours. A new colour name is adequately understandable if it fits into the traditional system used to denote colours in Estonian.

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