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.
ResourcesEdit
BooksEdit
- Basic Course in Estonian by Felix J. Oinas
- Teach Yourself Estonian by Mare Kitsnik
VideosEdit
- Let's Learn Estonian - YouTube videos teaching basic Estonian
WebsitesEdit
- Estonian Wikibooks - A few basic Estonian lessons
