Estonian or eesti keel [ˈeːsti ˈkeːl] is a Finnic language spoken primarily in Estonia. Estonian is very closely related to Finnish, and the two languages are somewhat mutually intelligible.
Orthography
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The Estonian alphabet consists of most of the letters of the Latin in addition to some with diacritics. The letters and their sounds are given below:
Letter | Sound |
---|---|
A / a | [ɑː] |
B / b | [b] |
D / d | [t] |
E / e | [e] |
F / f | [f] |
G / g | [g] |
H / h | [h] |
I / i | [i] |
J / j | [j] |
K / k | [k] |
L / l | [l] |
M / m | [m] |
N / n | [n] |
O / o | [o] |
P / p | [p] |
R / r | [r] |
S / s | [s] |
Š / š | [ʃ] |
Z / z | [z] |
Ž / ž | [ʒ] |
T / t | [t] |
U / u | [u] |
V / v | [v] |
Õ / õ | [ɤ] |
Ä / ä | [æ] |
Ö / ö | [ø] |
Ü / ü | [y] |
The letters F, Š, Z, and Ž are only used in loan words. Also note that the letters C, Q, W, X, and Y can also be used in loan words, but they are not part of the official alphabet.
Resources
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Books
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- Basic Course in Estonian by Felix J. Oinas
- Teach Yourself Estonian by Mare Kitsnik
Videos
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- Let's Learn Estonian - YouTube videos teaching basic Estonian
Websites
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- Estonian Wikibooks - A few basic Estonian lessons