Estonian language
| Estonian | |
|---|---|
| eesti keel | |
| Native to | Estonia |
| Ethnicity | Estonians |
Native speakers | 1.1 million (2012)[1] |
| Latin (Estonian alphabet) Estonian Braille | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Estonia European Union |
| Regulated by | Institute of the Estonian Language / Eesti Keele Instituut, Emakeele Selts (semi-official) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | et |
| ISO 639-2 | est |
| ISO 639-3 | est – inclusive codeIndividual codes: ekk – Standard Estonianvro – Võro |
| Glottolog | esto1258 |
| Linguasphere | 41-AAA-d |
Distribution of estonian 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.
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
| 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
- ↑ Estonian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Standard Estonian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Võro at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Estonian edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia