Vasak/vasem/pahem

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Linguaphile
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Vasak/vasem/pahem

Postby Linguaphile » 2016-09-24, 20:07

Most often I've encountered the word vasak, as in vasak käsi or pöörake vasakule. Can pahem and vasem be used as synonyms for vasak or do they have a different usage? For the most part I've only seen pahem used to mean "left" in older books (not in more recent ones I don't think) and I'm wondering if it's more dated, or if usage is limited to certain contexts. The Sünonüümisõnastik just lists them as synonyms, along with kura which seems to be more southern dialect.
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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ainurakne
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Re: Vasak/vasem/pahem

Postby ainurakne » 2016-09-24, 21:30

They are complete synonyms. I think the only difference between them is that they probably originate from either different dialects or different regions of Estonia. But I have heard all of them - except kura - spoken by ordinary people.

If i'm not mistaken, then vasak has been originally paired with hüvak, vasem and pahem with parem and kura with hüva - although, I could be mistaken, it just sounds logical like this.
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Re: Vasak/vasem/pahem

Postby Linguaphile » 2016-09-24, 21:49

ainurakne wrote:They are complete synonyms. I think the only difference between them is that they probably originate from either different dialects or different regions of Estonia. But I have heard all of them - except kura - spoken by ordinary people.

If i'm not mistaken, then vasak has been originally paired with hüvak, vasem and pahem with parem and kura with hüva - although, I could be mistaken, it just sounds logical like this.

Aitäh! That makes perfect sense. Textbooks for English-speakers seem to prefer vasak and parem almost exclusively but I'd encountered pahem and vasem in literature (and pahem in an older text). I had actually never heard hüvak before so now I can add it to my vocabulary as well. Good to know!
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri

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ainurakne
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Re: Vasak/vasem/pahem

Postby ainurakne » 2016-09-25, 6:27

Linguaphile wrote:I had actually never heard hüvak before so now I can add it to my vocabulary as well. Good to know!
While I have heard the three "lefts" (vasak, vasem and pahem), I have actually never heard hüvak used by anyone, only seen it in literature.
Or maybe I just haven't visited the right places in Estonia yet. :lol:

Kura and hüva I have only heard in recordings of some older/dialectal stories.

And, about pahem, I think even one (or some) of my grandparents uses it (although not always).
Eesti keel (et) native, English (en) I can manage, Suomi (fi) trying to learn, Pусский (ru)&Deutsch (de) unfortunately, slowly fading away

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Lumilintu
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Re: Vasak/vasem/pahem

Postby Lumilintu » 2016-11-14, 18:50

ainurakne wrote:And, about pahem, I think even one (or some) of my grandparents uses it (although not always).

There's one context where I use exclusively pahem (never vasak) - and that's knitting. :mrgreen:
The plain stitch is called parempidine silmus whilst the purl stitch is called pahempidine. It's actually the same logic as in German, where of the two main stitches one is called the right one and the other one the left one. Until this day I actually never heard of the English equivalents, I hope I got them right.
Oh, and also the pahem pool is always the side of the item that isn't supposed to show.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone using "vasak" in this context, but I might be wrong.
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Re: Vasak/vasem/pahem

Postby Linguaphile » 2016-11-14, 20:01

Lumilintu wrote:
ainurakne wrote:And, about pahem, I think even one (or some) of my grandparents uses it (although not always).

There's one context where I use exclusively pahem (never vasak) - and that's knitting. :mrgreen:
The plain stitch is called parempidine silmus whilst the purl stitch is called pahempidine. It's actually the same logic as in German, where of the two main stitches one is called the right one and the other one the left one. Until this day I actually never heard of the English equivalents, I hope I got them right.

I'm not a knitting expert but I think you did get the English equivalents right and "plain stitch" can also be called "knit stitch".
Lumilintu wrote:Oh, and also the pahem pool is always the side of the item that isn't supposed to show.

See on ka hea teada. Aitäh!
Sono di continuo a caccia di parole. Descriverei il processo così: Ogni giorno entro in un bosco con un cestino in mano. Trovo le parole tutt'attorno: sugli alberi, nei cespugli, per terra (in realtà: per la strada, durante la conversazioni, mentre leggo). Ne raccolgo quante più possibile. -Jhumpa Lahiri


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