The Estonian list of vernacular names for
fishes includes nearly 2000 items. The present study is focused
on compound names found in the lexical files of the dialect archives
kept at the Institute of the Estonian Language. Presented are
also names from some other languages. Notably, name-givers of
different countries seem to have been motivated by similar principles.
Those principles have enabled us to divide the names into six
groups motivated, respectively, by: 1) the habitat of the fish,
e.g. järvekurat 'miller's thumb, bullhead, lit. devil
of the lake'; 2) the bottom of the waterbody (sandy, muddy, stony),
e.g. mudanina 'brook lamprey, lit. mudnose'; kivikala
'loach; gudgeon; minnow; miller's thumb, bullhead; lit. stonefish'.
(Stone is the favourite first component in the compound Estonian
dialect names for fishes.) 3) best time for spawning or fishing
(warm or cold season, phenological signals); 4) fishing gear
(mõrralest 'lit. weel sole') or bait (ogarulliangerjas
'lit. eel baited with stickleback'); 5) some characteristics
of the caught fish (size, shape, colour, even smell or sound
emitted); 6) euphemisms.
All this demonstrates what caught the attention of the people
of old and how it has enriched our language.
