Translations and Other Language Solutions in Estonian Language

Estonian is spoken in the northern regions of Europe. This language belongs to the Baltic Finnic languages of the Finno-Ugric language family. According to scholars, Proto-Finno-Ugric tribes inhabited very vast territories that reached far beyond the Ural Mountains where Iranian tribes lived. However, in around the year 3000 BCE they moved closer to the Baltic Sea, where they started establishing close cultural ties with the local Baltic tribes. In archaeological monuments, these tribes are recognised as the representatives of the Pit–Comb Ware Culture.

Estonian is related to the Livonian, Finnish and Votic languages, but are unlike the languages of its neighbouring countries Russia, Latvia, and Sweden. Estonian and Finnish developed when the Proto-Finno-Ugric tribes, which used the so-called Proto-Finnic language in communication, split.

The modern-day Estonian is much more different from Proto-Finnic than Finnish; however, Estonian still uses some archaisms that are no longer found in Finnish.

Estonian is spoken by about 1.1 million people, and it is the second smallest language in the world that holds the status of an official language (the first being Icelandic). As the official language is it used in Estonia, and as a minority language in Russia and Latvia.

Estonian has two dialects: Northern (used in Tallinn) and Southern (used in Tartu). The Northern dialect is also used on Estonian islands: in the Lääne, Harju, Järva, and Viru counties, as well as in the northern parts of Pärnu, Viljandi, and Tartu counties. The Estonian used on the islands is distinctly Swedish. The Southern dialect is spoken in the southern parts of Pärnu, Viljandi, and Tartu counties.

The modern-day literary Estonian language is based mainly on the Northern dialect. Since the 16th century, there have been two varieties of the written language, one for each of the dialects spoken in the country. The Bible translation, which was published in 1739, was defining in the development of the literary Estonian language, being the first source to include both of the language varieties.

The most well-known linguists of the 19th century actively involved in creating the literary Estonian were Ed. Ahrens, F.J. Wiedemann, J. Hurt, and M. Veske. From then on, Estonian literature also experienced rapid development.

The evolution of Estonian writing was fascinating. At the end of the 19th century, linguist M. Veske started a movement that aimed to incorporate the phonetic characteristics of certain dialects in the written language. This movement was so successful that for a while there were two parallel literary languages in Estonia.