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Partitives cross-linguistically: Dimensions of variation
Edited by Silvia Luraghi and Petra Sleeman
[Linguistic Variation 23:1] 2023
► pp. 157–189

Partitive, genitive or nominative?

Estonian DOM in written use through centuries

ORCID logo | University of Tartu
 | University of Tartu
The object has two variants in Estonian: partial object (in partitive, the functionally unmarked variant) and total object (in genitive or nominative). We examine the variation in object case in Estonian texts from the 17th to the 20th century, focusing on the 19th century and regarding this variation as an indicator in assessing the sociolinguistic variation of Estonian in texts. The texts of Old Literary Estonian were written by German scholars for whom Estonian was a collective interlanguage. In the 19th century the development of written Estonian came gradually into the hands of native speakers, who were surrounded by a predominantly German-language cultural space. In the Estonian of Germans the total object was overused. The 19th-century texts written by native Estonians represent an amalgam of native language and earlier interlanguage, they show fluctuations, and overuse of the partial object. By the turn of the 20th century, object case usage has stabilized.
Keywords: object, partitive, nominative, genitive, variation, written language, interlanguage, sociohistory, Estonian
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Sociohistorical background
  • 3.The framework of interlanguage and amalgam language revealing the characteristics of older Estonian literary language
    • 3.1On the terms of interlanguage and amalgam language and their suitability for the description of older Estonian literary language
    • 3.2Some amalgam language features in 19th century written Estonian
  • 4.Research questions, hypotheses, data, and method
  • 5.Object cases in Estonian
    • 5.1Main features of differential object marking
    • 5.2Points of departure for the analysis of 19th-century object case usage
  • 6.Background: Object case usage in different time periods
    • 6.1Objects in present-day L1 Estonian texts
    • 6.2Objects in the Estonian of 21st century native German language learners
    • 6.3Objects in Estonian of German authors in the 17th-19th century
  • 7.Use of object cases in L1 texts through the 19th century
  • 8.Discussion: Objects in texts by Estonian L1 speakers in 19th century
  • 9.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 27 January 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lv.20016.met
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