Moderator:aaakknu
Woods wrote:I really like your thread. Very interesting words.
I thought turnikas comes from the verb turnima which in turn comes from German turnen (although the Estonian counterpart rather means to climb than to exercise). In reality, I think turnikas is a shortened form of something, like turnimispuu for example.Linguaphile wrote:turnikas horizontal bar (for exercise; Russian турник), maybe also children's jungle gym / monkey bars?
ainurakne wrote:I thought turnikas comes from the verb turnima which in turn comes from German turnen (although the Estonian counterpart rather means to climb than to exercise). In reality, I think turnikas is a shortened form of something, like turnimispuu for example.Linguaphile wrote:turnikas horizontal bar (for exercise; Russian турник), maybe also children's jungle gym / monkey bars?
ainurakne wrote:And there are probably more uses for the -kas suffix that I might have missed.
ainurakne wrote:in this case it's probably not shortening, but getting rid of the compound word (and thus getting rid of multiple primary stresses), again making the word easier to pronounce
ainurakne wrote:It can be used to shorten words of foreign origin (and thus making them easier to pronounce for Estonian speakers; not just by shortening, but also moving the primary stress onto the first syllable which is more convenient for Estonian speakers). For example:Although, regarding the last one, I guess one could do the same for native words as well if they are understandable to other Estonian speakers (although in this case it's probably not shortening, but getting rid of the compound word (and thus getting rid of multiple primary stresses), again making the word easier to pronounce):
- ventilaator -> ventikas
- Zaporožets (a Russian car) -> sapakas
- läpptopp (laptop) -> läpakas
- etc...
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- sülearvuti -> sülekas
- rüperaal -> rüpekas
It's also really common in certain older words, like berries (maasikas, vaarikas, mustikas, etc...), tree names (kadakas, jalakas, pedakas (although I guess pedajas is more common), etc...), and so on.
And also in words that seem to be formed from verbs (like turnikas), although as I mentioned, it probably actually derives from some longer compound word (like turnimispuu). Another one from this category, that just pops into mind, is hüpekas (kind of like a ramp that is used for "jumping" while moving with high speed by car, on a bicycle, on a sled, or other such). But I'm not sure what is this shortened from. I doubt it would be hüppelaud.
And there are probably more uses for the -kas suffix that I might have missed.
EDIT: after some googling I found that hüpekas could also refer to the jump itself that is caused by a hüpekas (as a structure). Additionally, hüpekas could be used as a short form for hüppeliiges.
But the definition that I gave above, was the one the I was most familiar with while I was a child (e.g. building hüpekaid from snow on sledding hills and other such).
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