Early emotional contacts with the Indo-Europeans. Lexical evidence of Estonian against a broader background

The etymological origins of the Estonian emotion vocabulary reveal that they include prehistoric loanwords from different Indo-European languages. In this paper, the emotional loans are examined according to the estimated time and sequence of acquiring them. The timetable is complemented with information about the other main fields of loanwords and, as background, changes in climate, population and material culture. Each of the periods is described in detail and followed by discussion of the relevance of those particular emotions and the possible social contexts where they might have been negotiated. The results show that the sequence in which the emotion categories emerged and were borrowed does not exactly match the supposedly universal sequence predicted in literature. Instead, the development of emotion categories broadly matches the differentiation and increasing complexity in the material culture, social relations and ideologies.Kokkuvõte. Ene Vainik: Emotsionaalsed kontaktid indoeurooplastega. Eesti keele laensõnad laiemal eelajaloolisel taustal. Eesti keele emotsioonisõnade etümologiseeringud osutavad, et osa neist on päritolu poolest eelajaloolised laenud erinevatest indoeuroopa keeltest. Käesolevas uurimuses grupeeritakse laenatud emotsioonisõnad vastavalt nende arvatavale omandamise järjekorrale ning perioodile. Emotsioonisõnade jaotuvuse tabelit täiendatakse informatsiooniga teistest peamistest semantilistest laenurühmadest samal laenuperioodil ja kliima, rahvaarvu ning materiaalse kultuuri muutumisest. Artiklis iseloomustatakse iga perioodi täpsemalt ning arutletakse selle üle, mis suhtes on olnud esiplaanil just teatud emotsioonid ning millistes sotsiaalsetes kontekstides võis tekkida vajadus neid keeleliselt kajastada. Tulemused osutavad, et emotsioonikategooriate esiletulemise ning laenamise järjestus ei lange päris täpselt kokku kirjanduse põhjal ennustatuga. Emotsioonikategooriate evolutsioon vastab üldjoontes hoopis materiaalse kultuuri, sotsiaalsete suhete ning ideoloogiate kasvavale eristumisele ning komplekssusele.Märksõnad: Uurali keeled, indoeuroopa keeled, eesti keel, emotsioonikategooriad, esiajalugu, laensõna

Jumala jälgi ajamas

The paper discusses the origins of the Estonian word jumal (‘God’). First, it summarises the versions proposed by previous treatises, and thereafter the linguistic material of Estonian runo songs is analysed in order to detect variations in its usage, pointing to the possible pre-Christian meaning of the word. The body of the paper consists of presenting and discussing the alternative stems that the word jumal could be derived from. Among them are some appellatives (jumm/juma ‘log’; jumi/jume ‘colour of the face’) as well as proper names of the mythological creatures of the neighbouring countries (Finnish Jumi and Latvian Jumis) and the name of the Indo-European divine twin (Yemo).The linguistic and geographical distribution of the term as well as the background information obtained from archaeology suggest that the latter version fits the best. In the following a somewhat more extended summary of the abovementioned sections of the paper is presented. The previous treatises agree that the term jumal is of genuine origin. It is considered to be a derivative term consisting of the stem jumV (the last vocal varying between (a/e/i) and of a suffix (-l-). They disagree on its proposed original meaning (‘cover’, ‘face’, ‘sound of thunder’, ‘good’, ‘essence’, ‘shivering’, ‘dead body’) and on what the function of the suffix has been. There are also different opinions on whether the supposed supreme being has been of “heavenly” kind or it could have been located elsewhere. The analysis of the context in which the term jumal was used in the runo songs revealed that besides the usages in the Christianity-related contexts (co-located with Jeesuke (‘Jesus’) and Mari (‘Mary’)) there were other uses where it omitted such a company. Among them were the stereotypical phrases and addresses for help and the pantheistic nature-related usages (in connection with wind, trees and light). There were also some references to the genuine Baltic-Finnic mythological heritage (the God-Smith, the ‘golden trace of god’, etc.) and some usages that could be cultural influences from the neighbours. Tracing back the dialectal stem jumm/juma (‘log’) reveals its cognate in ancient Russian ‘connected rafts; catamaran’. The wood-related origin of the word jumal is considered semantically motivated (the wooden statues of gods being the link between the ideological content and the material), but the stem as the actual origin of jumal is questionable because of its presence not only in the Baltic-Finnic languages but also in Mordvinic and Mari. The stem jumi/jume (‘colour of the face’) appeared to be used in different meanings mainly in the archaic runo songs, indicating ‘vital force’ and ‘mental force’. These meanings fit perfectly with the Estonians’ animistic worldview in general and their obsession with the vital force noticed by the earlier authors. Also, the usage of the term reveals that metonymy (paleness stands for physical/mental weakness) and metaphors (e.g. vital/mental force is liquid, vital/mental force is a person) have been at work. Derivation of the notion of jumal from such a concept seems highly probable. However, the abstract meanings are only locally distributed in a part of southern Estonia while the word jumal(a) is known in the Baltic-Finnic languages and its cognates also in Mari and Mordvinic. In the Finnish heritage there was a mythological creature called Jumi. He appeared as double-faceted: causing of sudden diseases was attributed to him, and at the same time he was the fertility deity, worshipped in a special type of play-weddings. Jumi has been referred to as the Finno-Ugric pantheistic “spirit of the world” having a cognate at least in Mari (Jumo). Derivation of the appellative jumal from such a proper name seems highly probable. In Latvian there is a word jumi-s (f. juma-, n jume-) (‘double fruit’), and its supposed derivative jumala (‘fat female’). Historically, there has been a fertility deity called Jumis in the Baltic pantheon. Derivation of the appellative jumal (‘god’) from the borrowed proper name of the fertility deity also seems probable. In addition, there is a possibility that the whole word jumala has been borrowed. Again, the linguistic and geographic distribution of the term makes this particular version of borrowing somewhat questionable. The Latvian Jumis is etymologically connected to the Indo-European divine twin Yemo, which has cognates in the creation myths of several Indo-European cultures and his role has been to symbolise the connection of living people to the dead ancestors. The original meaning of the stem is believed to be ‘to bind together’. Purely linguistic evidence leaves it uncertain whether this could be the actual origin of the term jumal, but the word has been borrowed to the Finno-Ugric languages at least once (the Sami juomek ‘twin’). The linguistic distribution (cognates in Mari and Mordvinic) suggests that the stem Jum must have been coined or borrowed during the prehistoric period 1900–900 BC. At that time bronze spread from the East to the West, and together with it the fortified settlements similar to the Indo-Iranian ones. The herding and cultivating economy produced more food than hunting and gathering, thus giving an advantage to the tribes who had changed their economy. The archaeological evidence (types of graves) in Estonia reveals a collectivist mentality and a cult of ancestors. Therefore, within the whole economic, cultural and ideological package, borrowing of the name of the deity of dead ancestors YemoàJum seems highly probable. There are several other religion-related Indo-Iranian loanwords in Estonian (taevas ‘heaven’ <*‘god’, peied ‘wake’, mana- ‘spell; underworld’, marrask (of skin) ‘dead’). The original ancestor-related meaning of the name/stem jum, however, has been reinterpreted according to the evolving needs of the Finno-Ugric speaking societies: it could refer to the pantheistic “spirit of the world”, the fertility deity, the life force, the ultimate helper, the creator, the heavenly supreme being, etc

A comparison of collocations and word associations in Estonian from the perspective of parts of speech

The paper provides a comparative study of the collocational and associative structures in Estonian with respect to the role of parts of speech. The lists of collocations and associations of an equal set of nouns, verbs and adjectives, originating from the respective dictionaries, is analysed to find both the range of coincidences and differences. The results show a moderate overlap, among which the biggest overlap occurs in the range of the adjectival associates and collocates. There is an overall prevalence for nouns appearing among the associated and collocated items. The coincidental sets of relations are tentatively explained by the influence of grammatical relations i.e. the patterns of local grammar binding together the collocations and motivating the associations. The results are discussed with respect to the possible reasons causing the associations-collocations mismatch and in relation to the application of these findings in the fields of lexicography and second language acquisition

Emotsioonisõnad töises keskkonnas – millest kõnelevad loetelukatsete tulemused?

Artiklis võrreldakse emotsioonisõnade esiletulekut 2001. aastal läbi viidud loetelukatsetes tööl ja mujal. Hetketunnete ja emotsioonidega seotud tegusõnade loetelukatsete tulemuste semantilise analüüsi põhjal osutus, et katse läbiviimise koht on mõningal määral mõjutanud emotsioonisõnade meenumist, seda eriti konkreetsete emotsioonide ja emotsioonidega assotsiatiivselt seotud sõnavara osas. Hetketundeid loetlevad sõnad olid töises keskkonnas hinnangult vastuolulisemad kui mujal, tegusõnade puhul tuli tööl esile arvukam verbaalset suhtlust ja eriti hinnangulist suhtlemist kirjeldav sõnarühm. Võimalik, et töises keskkonnas kanaliseeruvad emotsioonid hinnangulisse suhtlusse, millega taasluuakse ja hoitakse alal sellele keskkonnale omast hierarhilist suhtemudelit

Emotsioonidest lingvisti pilguga - Ene Vainik

SOPH.00.270 Uurimus, andmed ja interpretatsioo

Kuidas õpetada kõnesüntesaatorile empaatiat? Emotsiooni automaatse tuvastuse võimalustest eestikeelses kirjalikus lauses sisalduva info põhjal

<p>Kõnesünteesi loomulikustamise üheks eelduseks on arvuti võime tunda tekstist ära emotsionaalseid lauseid. Artiklis tutvustatakse eestikeelse kirjutatud teksti automaatse emotsioonituvastaja (AET) loomise taustaks olevaid teoreetilisi seisukohti ja kirjandust, millest võib ülesande lahendamisel abi olla. Seejärel antakse ülevaade inimeste poolt piisava kindlusega ära tuntud emotsioonilausete mitmetest parameetritest ja hinnatakse nende rakendatavust arvuti tulevases emotsioonituvastuses. Osutub, et automaatse emotsioonituvastaja loomisel ei ole võimalik otse üle võtta välismaiseid eeskujusid, kuna emotsioonide väljendamine on mõningal määral kultuurisidus ja nende väljendus kirjalikus tekstis ripub ära konkreetse keele eripärast. Tuvastuseks vajalikud keeleressursid – emotsioonidega seotud eesti keele sõnade ja konstruktsioonide loendid – tuleb AET jaoks algusest peale ise luua.</p><p>DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5128/ERYa6.20</p

Kuidas määrata eesti keele sõnavara tundetoone?

<p>Artiklis antakse ülevaade sõnavaraüksuste tundetoonide määramise teoreetilistest alustest ja praktilistest võimalustest. Esmalt kirjeldatakse ülesande olulisust, siis teoreetilisi lähte-eeldusi ja vaetakse neist tulenevaid metoodilisi võimalusi. Juhtumianalüüsina kirjeldatakse eesti keele põhisõnavara sõnastiku märksõnastiku tundetoonide hindamise metoodikat, katse läbiviimist ja tulemusi ning võrreldakse neid varasemate eesti keele emotsioonisõnavara uurimustega. Artikkel näitab, kuidas eesti lingvistika kontekstis uudset üleannet lahendada metoodiliselt võimalikult korrektselt, kuid arutleb ka küsitavuste ja perspektiivide üle.</p><p>DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5128/ERYa8.17</p

Compiling the Dictionary of Word Associations in Estonian: From scratch to the database

The present paper describes the project titled “The Dictionary of Word Associations in Estonian” undertaken by the author at the Institute of the Estonian Language. The general aim of the Dictionary is to provide insights into Estonians’ common-sense mind. It is meant to be a tool of self-reflection for Estonian native speakers and a guide for the foreigners who are eager enough to make themselves familiar with the Estonian cultural patterns of thought. The Dictionary will be published online. The number of keywords was initially limited to approximately 800. Specific emphasis is given to the stage of data collection by implementing the principles of citizen science

Comparison of the Self-Organizing Map and Multidimensional Scaling in Analysis of Estonian Emotion Concepts

Proceedings of the 16th Nordic Conference of Computational Linguistics NODALIDA-2007. Editors: Joakim Nivre, Heiki-Jaan Kaalep, Kadri Muischnek and Mare Koit. University of Tartu, Tartu, 2007. ISBN 978-9985-4-0513-0 (online) ISBN 978-9985-4-0514-7 (CD-ROM) pp. 113-120