Tiiu Erelt (until 1962 Tiiu Kask; born on 20 April 1942 in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n linguist. In 1965 she graduated from

Tartu State University The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

with a degree in

Finno-Ugric languages Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is ba ...

. Her main fields of research have been Estonian language related

terminology Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, compound word, or multi-wor ...

, dictionaries,

lexicology Lexicology is the branch of linguistics that analyzes the lexicon of a specific language. A word is the smallest meaningful unit of a language that can stand on its own, and is made up of small components called morphemes and even smaller element ...

language planning In sociolinguistics, language planning (also known as language engineering) is a deliberate effort to influence the function, structure or acquisition of languages or language varieties within a speech community.Kaplan B., Robert, and Richard ...

and the development of

jargon Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The conte ...

in many disciplines. from 1965 until 2009, she worked at the

Estonian Language Institute Institute of the Estonian Language ( et, Eesti Keele Instituut) is the language regulator of the Estonian language. It is located in Tallinn. Its current director is Arvi Tavast. It was founded in 1993 as the Institute of Language and Literature ...

. From 1977 until 1984, she taught a course in terminology at Tartu State University and in 1984 and 1986 at the

Tallinn Pedagogical Institute Tallinn University (TLU; et, Tallinna Ülikool, ''TLÜ'') is a public research university in Estonia. Located in the centre of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Tallinn University is one of the three largest institutions of higher education ...

in language planning. In 1993, she lectured at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

. She has worked to clarify the terminology of patenting, construction, pedagogy and linguistics, as well as professional titles. She participated in the compilation of Estonian orthography dictionaries, including the editor and co-compiler of the 1999 and 2006 dictionaries and one of the compilers of the 1976 and 2013 dictionaries. She has also edited, among other things, volumes three and four of the ''Russian-Estonian Dictionary''. She is married to linguist Mati Erelt. Their sons are journalist Pekka Erelt and Jaan Erelt.

Awards

* 1999:

Wiedemann Language Award Wiedemann Language Award ( et, Wiedemanni keelauhind, full name The State F. J. Wiedemann Language Award) is an Estonian state award which is granted each year to one natural person for outstanding merits upon study, organisation, teaching, promo ...

* 2000: Research Prize of the Republic of Estonia * 2001:

Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star ( et, Valgetähe teenetemärk; french: Ordre de l'Etoile Blanche) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic ...

, IV class * 2007: Honorary Member of the Mother Tongue Society

Works

* Vene-eesti kutse- ja ametinimetuste sõnastik (1979, with A. Argal and K. Torop) * Eesti oskuskeel (1982) * Väike uudissõnastik (1983, 1989) * Uudis- ja unarsõnu (1985, with R. Kull and H. Meriste) * Eesti-soome keeleteaduse sõnastik (1992, 1995) * Nimekirjutusraamat (1993, one of the authors) * Eesti ortograafia (1995, 2005) * Eesti keele käsiraamat (1997, 2007, with M. Erelt and K. Ross) * Eesti keelekorraldus (2002) * Eesti-inglise keeleteaduse sõnastik (2003, with M. Erelt and E. Velt) * Eesti oskuskeelekorralduse seisund (2003, with A. Tavast) * Terminiõpetus (2007) * Keelenõuanne soovitab 1–4 (1996–2008, one of the authors)

References

1942 births Living people Linguists from Estonia Women linguists Estonian editors Estonian women editors Estonian translators Estonian lexicographers Estonian Finno-Ugrists University of Tartu alumni Academic staff of the University of Tartu Academic staff of Tallinn University Estonian educators Women educators Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 4th Class People from Tallinn {{Estonia-linguist-stub