Disputatio:Lingua Estonica
Declension of Estonian place names[fontem recensere]
Since Estonian is very similar to Finnish and place names do not have such different endings, I have made this table for the declension of place names in Estonia, based on the one at Lingua Finnica.
| Estonice | Latine | Exemplum |
|---|---|---|
| -u | -u, -us | Haapsalu (-us) |
| -a | -a, -ae | Loksa (-ae) |
| -aa | -aa, -aae | Põltsamaa (-aae) |
| -ää | -ää → -aa, -aae | Otepää (-aae) |
| -e | -e, -is | Lavassaare (-is) |
| -i | -i, -orum (pluralis) | Kiviõli (-orum) |
| -o | -o, -onis | Nõo (-onis) |
Do any of you agree with this and could you help me with the endings "-õe" and "-äe"? --Harrissimo 14:12, 17 Augusti 2007 (UTC)
- I'd suggest you maintain the regularity with -õe, -õis and -äe, -äis. Also (on the basis of Havaii, Havaiiorum) instead of -i, -is, maybe -i, -orum. In Latin, there's nothing unusual about plural placenames, of which the most famous may be Athenae, Athenarum. If the point is to be able to recognize or reconstruct the original from the Latin, the key is to make the system absolutely regular. If you keep -i, -is, then you won't know whether a genitive like Kiviõlis represents an original Kiviõle or Kiviõli, but if the genitive is Kiviõlorum, you know the original must have been Kiviõli and can't have been Kiviõle. IacobusAmor 15:22, 17 Augusti 2007 (UTC)
- Thanks. I was just basing the -i, -is system on Kalevala and the Finnice page, but the -i, -orum outclasses it. --Harrissimo 15:48, 18 Augusti 2007 (UTC)