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

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

) is an Estonian linguist. In 1965 she graduated from

Tartu State University The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.Finno-Ugric languages Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th centur ...

. Her main fields of research have been Estonian

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 (linguistics), com ...

, 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 elemen ...

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 Rich ...

, and the development of

jargon Jargon, or technical language, 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 ...

in many disciplines. from 1965 until 2009, she worked at the Estonian Language Institute. 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; , ''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 the country. Both Q ...

in language planning. In 1993, she lectured at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

. 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 as 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 ''Vene-eesti sõnaraamatu'' (Russian–Estonian Dictionary). She was married to linguist Mati Erelt. Their sons are the journalist Pekka Erelt and Jaan Erelt.

Awards

* 1999:

Wiedemann Language Award Wiedemann Language Award (, 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, promotion or use of the Estonia ...

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

Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star (; ) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonian citizens and foreigners to give recognition for services rendered to the Estonian state. Design Classes The Order of the White Star ...

, IV class * 2007: Honorary Member of the

Mother Tongue Society Mother Tongue Society () is an Estonian organization that focuses on topics related to the Estonian language. The organization was established on 23 March 1920 at Tartu University. Today, the organization is located in Tallinn. The organization i ...

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 20th-century Estonian educators 21st-century Estonian educators Estonian women educators Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 4th Class {{Estonia-linguist-stub