Leelo Keevallik, From interaction to grammar: Estonian finite verb forms in conversation

Extract

Leelo Keevallik, From interaction to grammar: Estonian finite verb forms in conversation. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet, 2003. Pp. 270. Hb $57.50.

This book – presented as a Ph. D. thesis at the University of Uppsala, Sweden – comprises analyses of eleven frequently occurring epistemic expressions in present-day spoken Estonian. The constitutive elements in these expressions are finite verb forms in any of the three persons – for example, ma arvan ‘I guess’, ütleme ‘let's say’, kule ‘listen!’, on ju ‘(it) is surely’. In addition to the verb form, which is either in the indicative or imperative mood, there may be another element, typically a personal pronoun or verbal suffix (1st or 2nd person), and even a clitic particle (on+ju). Semantically, most of the verbs denote human cognition or speaking. An exception is the verb olla ‘to be’ (cf. on ju above).