Estonian language

Finno-Ugric language

The Estonian language (Estonian: eesti keel) is a Uralic language. It is mainly spoken in Estonia. The Estonian language is similar to Finnish and is one of the few national languages of Europe not to be an Indo-European language.

Estonian
eesti keel
Native toEstonia
EthnicityEstonians
Native speakers
1.1 million (2012)[1]
Uralic
Latin (Estonian alphabet)
Estonian Braille
Official status
Official language in
 Estonia
 European Union
Regulated byInstitute of the Estonian Language / Eesti Keele Instituut, Emakeele Selts (semi-official)
Language codes
ISO 639-1et
ISO 639-2est
ISO 639-3est – inclusive code
Individual codes:
ekk – Standard Estonian
vro – Võro
Glottologesto1258
Linguasphere41-AAA-d
Distribution of estonian language
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

The Estonian alphabet uses the Latin alphabet. It has many vowels, including Ö, Ä, Õ and Ü.

It has been influenced by and adopted many words from German and Swedish. The Estonian language also has different dialects.

Sample words

change
Üks One
Kaks Two
Kolm Three
Jah Yes
Ei No
Mina/Ma I
Sina/Sa You (in singular)
Tema/Ta He/She
Meie/Me We
Teie/Te You (in plural)
Nemad/Nad They
Olen/Mina olen I am
Eesti Estonia
Maja House
Kodu Home
Tee Way

References

change
  1. Estonian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Standard Estonian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Võro at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)