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==Description==
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,000 outside Estonia.


For word lists and help researching in Estonian records, see:
'''Estonian''' belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family. It is one of the four official languages of European Union that is not of an Indo-European origin. Despite some overlaps in the vocabulary due to borrowings, in terms of its origin, Estonian and Finnish are not related to their nearest geographical neighbors, Swedish, Latvian, and Russian (which are all Indo-European languages), however they are related to the nearby minority Karelian and Livonian languages. <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Estonian language," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_language, accessed 15 March 2021.</ref>
*[[Russian Genealogical Word List]]
*[[German Genealogical Word List]]
*[[Latin Genealogical Word List]]
*[[Latin Genealogical Word List]]
*[[Swedish Genealogical Word List]]


The official language, Estonian, belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic languages. Estonian is closely related to Finnish, spoken in Finland, across the other side of the Gulf of Finland, and is one of the few Languages of Europe that is not of an Indo-European origin. Despite some overlaps in the vocabulary due to borrowings, in terms of its origin, Estonian and Finnish are not related to their nearest geographical neighbours, Swedish, Latvian, and Russian, which are all Indo-European languages.
* the Estonian language has borrowed nearly one third of its vocabulary from Germanic languages.
* South Estonian languages are spoken by 100,000 people and include the dialects of Võro and Seto.
* Russian is by far the most spoken minority language in the country. Russian is spoken as a secondary language by forty- to seventy-year-old ethnic Estonians. Russian was the unofficial language of the Estonian SSR from 1944 to 1991 and taught as a compulsory second language during the Soviet era.
* From the 13th to the 20th century, there were Swedish-speaking communities in Estonia, particularly in the coastal areas and on the islands. <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Estonia," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia#Languages, accessed 15 March 2021.</ref>


Although the Estonian and Germanic languages are of very different origins, one can identify many similar words in Estonian and German, for example. This is primarily because the Estonian language has borrowed nearly one third of its vocabulary from Germanic languages, mainly from Low Saxon (Middle Low German) during the period of German rule, and High German (including standard German).
The most common foreign languages learned by Estonian students are English, Russian, German and French. Other popular languages include Finnish, Spanish, and Swedish. <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Estonia," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia#Languages, accessed 15 March 2021.</ref>


South Estonian (including Võro and Seto varieties), spoken in South-Eastern Estonia, is genealogically distinct from northern Estonian, but traditionally and officially considered as dialects and "regional forms of the Estonian language", not separate language(s).
Historical records are written mostly in German but also in Russian, Swedish, Estonian, and Latin.


Russian is still spoken as a secondary language by forty- to seventy-year-old ethnic Estonians, because Russian was the unofficial language of the Estonian SSR from 1944 to 1991 and taught as a compulsory second language during the Soviet era. In 1998, most first- and second-generation industrial immigrants from the former Soviet Union (mainly the Russian SFSR) did not speak Estonian. However, by 2010, 64.1% of non-ethnic Estonians spoke Estonian. The latter, mostly Russian-speaking ethnic minorities, reside predominantly in the capital city of Tallinn and the industrial urban areas in Ida-Virumaa.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Estonia#Minority_languages More details on the Minority languages in Estonia]
 
==Word List(s)==
* [https://1000mostcommonwords.com/1000-most-common-estonian-words/ 1,000 Most Common Estonian Words]
* [https://www.101languages.net/estonian/most-common-estonian-words/ 1,000 Most Common Estonian Words (Estonian 101) - with audio pronunciations]
 
For word lists and help researching in Estonian records, see:
* [[Estonian Genealogical Word List]]
* [[Russian Genealogical Word List]]
* [[German Genealogical Word List]]
* [[Latin Genealogical Word List]]
* [[Swedish Genealogical Word List]]


From the 13th to the 20th century, there were Swedish-speaking communities in Estonia, particularly in the coastal areas and on the islands (e.g., ''Hiiumaa, Vormsi, Ruhnu''; in Swedish, known as ''Dagö, Ormsö, Runö'', respectively) along the Baltic sea, communities which today have almost disappeared. The Swedish-speaking minority was represented in parliament, and entitled to use their native language in parliamentary debates.
==Alphabet and Pronunciation==
Estonian employs the Latin script as the basis for its alphabet,
:and adds the letters ä, ö, ü, and õ, plus the later additions š and ž.  
:The letters c, q, w, x and y are limited to proper names of foreign origin
:f, z, š, and ž appear in loanwords and foreign names only. <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Estonian language," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_language#Alphabet, accessed 15 March 2021.</ref>


From 1918 to 1940, when Estonia was independent, the small Swedish community was well treated. Municipalities with a Swedish majority, mainly found along the coast, used Swedish as the administrative language and Swedish-Estonian culture saw an upswing. However, most Swedish-speaking people fled to Sweden before the end of World War II, that is, before the invasion of Estonia by the Soviet army in 1944. Only a handful of older speakers remain. Apart from many other areas the influence of Swedish is especially distinct in the ''Noarootsi'' Parish in ''Lääne'' County where there are many villages with bilingual Estonian and/or Swedish names and street signs.
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_orthography#Alphabet Estonian Alphabet - Wikipedia]
* [https://omniglot.com/writing/estonian.htm Estonian Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)]


The most common foreign languages learned by Estonian students are English, Russian, German and French. 
==Language Aids and Dictionaries==
'''Language Aids'''
* [https://www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/estonian/ MustGo Travel - Estonian (Dialects, Vowels, Consonants, Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing)]
* Harms, Robert T. ''Estonian grammar.'' London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2017. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/998785429 WorldCat].
* Kurman, George. ''The development of written Estonian.'' London: RoutledgeCurzon, 1997. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/494507625 WorldCat].
* Laas, Andres. ''Estonian Language : 101 Estonian verbs.'' United States: Preceptor Language Guides, 2015. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/1004770507 WorldCat].


Historical records are written mostly in German but also in Russian, Swedish, Estonian, and Latin.
'''Dictionaries'''
* Word order is considerably more flexible than English, but the basic order is subject–verb–object.
* ''Estonian - English : Estonian dictionary.'' n.p.: n.p., 2005. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/1012534639 WorldCat].
* Saagpakk, Paul F, and Johannes Aavik. ''Estonian-English dictionary.'' Tallinn: Koolibri, 2000. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/64663464 WorldCat].
* Benyukh, Ksenia. ''Estonian-English/English-Estonian dictionary and phrasebook.'' Gazelle, New York, Lancaster: Hippocrene, 2002. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/50432821 WorldCat].


[http://www.postalhistory.com/results.asp?group=20&sort=3&cs=es Estonia Postal History] can be used to study writing.
==Additional Resources==
===Estonian Language Resources===
*[http://aboutworldlanguages.com/estonian Estonian language overview]
*[http://dict.ibs.ee/ Online Estonian dictionary]
*[http://www.lexilogos.com/english/estonian_dictionary.htm Estonian language resources]
*[http://learn101.org/estonian_grammar.php Estonian grammar and basics]
* Erelt, Mati. ''Estonian language.'' Tallinn: Estonian Academy Publishers, 2007. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/321053986 WorldCat].
* Sutrop, Urmas, and Jaagup Roomet. ''Estonian language.'' Tallinn: Eesti Instituut, 2000. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/247963372 WorldCat].
* Kitsnik, Mare, and Leelo Kingisepp. ''Complete Estonian.'' London: John Murray Learning, 2019. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/1136488985 WorldCat].
* Moseley, Christopher. ''Colloquial Estonian : the complete course for beginners.'' London: Routledge, 2015. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/935666300 WorldCat].
* Klaas, Birute, Sirje Rammo, and Maarika Teral. ''Teach yourself Estonian.'' London: Teach Yourself, 2006. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/71347330 WorldCat].


== References  ==
== References  ==
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{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Estonia]]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia#Languages
[[Category:Estonia]]
 
Laakso, Johanna; Sarhimaa, Anneli; Spiliopoulou Åkermark, Sia; Toivanen, Reeta. https://books.google.ee/books?id=xQKkCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT76&dq=Towards+Openly+Multilingual+Policies+and+Practices+V%C3%B5ro+Seto&hl=et&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Towards%20Openly%20Multilingual%20Policies%20and%20Practices%20V%C3%B5ro%20Seto&f=false (1 ed.). Bristol; Buffalo: Multilingual Matters. <nowiki>ISBN 9781783094950</nowiki>. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
 
http://www.eki.ee/knn/p2y.htm
 
https://archive.is/20120904104245/http://www.noavv.ee/swe
 
http://pub.stat.ee/px-web.2001/dialog/varval.asp?ma=ML133&ti=POPULATION+AGED+15-74+BY+ETHNIC+NATIONALITY+AND+KNOWLEDGE+OF+LANGUAGES&path=../I_databas/Social_life/09Labour_market/02Education/02Educational_level/&search=LANGUAGE&lang=1

Latest revision as of 12:12, 20 March 2024


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Description

Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,000 outside Estonia.

Estonian belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family. It is one of the four official languages of European Union that is not of an Indo-European origin. Despite some overlaps in the vocabulary due to borrowings, in terms of its origin, Estonian and Finnish are not related to their nearest geographical neighbors, Swedish, Latvian, and Russian (which are all Indo-European languages), however they are related to the nearby minority Karelian and Livonian languages. [1]

  • the Estonian language has borrowed nearly one third of its vocabulary from Germanic languages.
  • South Estonian languages are spoken by 100,000 people and include the dialects of Võro and Seto.
  • Russian is by far the most spoken minority language in the country. Russian is spoken as a secondary language by forty- to seventy-year-old ethnic Estonians. Russian was the unofficial language of the Estonian SSR from 1944 to 1991 and taught as a compulsory second language during the Soviet era.
  • From the 13th to the 20th century, there were Swedish-speaking communities in Estonia, particularly in the coastal areas and on the islands. [2]

The most common foreign languages learned by Estonian students are English, Russian, German and French. Other popular languages include Finnish, Spanish, and Swedish. [3]

Historical records are written mostly in German but also in Russian, Swedish, Estonian, and Latin.

More details on the Minority languages in Estonia

Word List(s)

For word lists and help researching in Estonian records, see:

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Estonian employs the Latin script as the basis for its alphabet,

and adds the letters ä, ö, ü, and õ, plus the later additions š and ž.
The letters c, q, w, x and y are limited to proper names of foreign origin
f, z, š, and ž appear in loanwords and foreign names only. [4]

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Language Aids

Dictionaries

  • Word order is considerably more flexible than English, but the basic order is subject–verb–object.
  • Estonian - English : Estonian dictionary. n.p.: n.p., 2005. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Saagpakk, Paul F, and Johannes Aavik. Estonian-English dictionary. Tallinn: Koolibri, 2000. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Benyukh, Ksenia. Estonian-English/English-Estonian dictionary and phrasebook. Gazelle, New York, Lancaster: Hippocrene, 2002. Available at: WorldCat.

Additional Resources

Estonian Language Resources

References

  1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Estonian language," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_language, accessed 15 March 2021.
  2. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Estonia," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia#Languages, accessed 15 March 2021.
  3. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Estonia," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia#Languages, accessed 15 March 2021.
  4. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Estonian language," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_language#Alphabet, accessed 15 March 2021.
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