 Facts about Estonia |
 Language |
Estonian is the native language and the official language of the Republic of Estonia. Being a small nation, language has a key role in maintaining their national identity for Estonians. Slightly more than one million people speak Estonian, which belongs to the Balto-Finnic group of the Finno-Ugric languages. Thus Finnish is closely related to Estonian (the similarity is comparable to that between Italian and Spanish), while Hungarian is a more distant relative (approximately as close as Polish to Italian). There are many dialects in spoken Estonian. Standard Estonian is based on the North-Estonian dialect.
The Latin alphabet is used in written Estonian. Of its 32 letters, 5 occur only in foreign words. The 27 phonemes include 9 vowels and 18 consonants. The letters of the Estonian alphabet are as follows: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s š z ~ t u v w õ ä ö ü x y. Spoken Estonian uses 45 percent vowels and 55 percent consonants, which gives a rather pleasant ring to the language. The sounds have 3 durations: short, long and extra long. Changing the duration of a sound can alter the grammatical function of the word or change its meaning altogether. Nouns are declined (there are 14 cases) and verbs conjugated generally by adding endings to their root. Certain words, in addition, change their root, by a vowel or a consonant either being replaced by another or disappearing completely. There are many postpositions. There are neither articles nor genders in Estonian. Most loanwords have their origin in German or Old German (a total of more than 2000 word roots); some 350 have been borrowed from Russian. Many international words have entered the Estonian vocabulary as later loanwords, mainly from Latin, Greek and English.
Estonian names consist of Christian name(s) and surname. No patronymic is added.
The oldest examples of written Estonian are names, words, and phrases found in early 13th century chronicles. The earliest surviving longer text dates from the 16th century. An Estonian textbook first appeared in 1637. Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann published a comprehensive Estonian-German dictionary in 1869, followed, in 1875, by a grammarbook describing the Estonian language. Today's written Estonian bears many marks of the language reform introduced by Johannes Aavik in the 1910s and 1920s. One result was a simplified sentence structure, another the adoption of a number of newly coined root words. In the 1920s and 1930s Johannes Voldemar Veski led the work of standardizing Estonian scientific vocabulary (covering more than 100,000 terms). After World War II, Estonian linguists in exile continued the efforts: Andrus Saareste published an atlas of dialects and a conceptual dictionary; Julius Mägiste compiled an etymological dictionary; and Valter Tauli wrote a scientific grammarbook. In Estonia, studies have been carried out at Tartu University, as well as at the Institute of Linguistics at the Academy of Sciences. The latter is the center for compilation of dictionaries and grammar textbooks. Estonian is the language of communication in all areas, including higher education and scientific research in Estonia.
| Estonian character |
 | The stereotypical Estonian is typically characterized as reserved, subdued, efficient, short on praise, stiff, even cool, but polite. Estonians seem to demand respect rather than love. All occurrences seem to be a part of a slow, predestined ritual born of the measured movements of the fields and forests.
Some people find the Estonian hesitancy to engage in conversation of reserve frustrating or even unnerving. But once you break the ice, Estonians are pleased to do what they can to help a Western visitor. And their rather glum outward bearing is also deceptive: just because they do not openly agree with you or give you a "high-five" does not mean they disapprove of you or what you are saying.
Estonians have been saved from being overwhelmed by other cultures by their disbelief and skepticism about the values being offered to them by the outside world. To break through the outward surface of pessimism, try speaking Estonian. Any effort goes a long way.
Estonians are not prone to humor that provokes belly-aching laughter. They prefer jokes that are more subtle and bring forth slow, quiet grins.
A few tips. Handshaking is customary and normal courtesies should be observed.
Their culture, national heritage, identity and language are the four things Estonians are very proud of.
Non-Russian locals can be touchy about being addressed in Russian. If you want to practice your Russian it would be advisable to ask if the other person understands or is willing to communicate in the tongue of the former imperial rulers of Estonia. That is why English is emerging as the pan-Baltic lingua franca.
In Estonia flowers are right for any occasion.
The sauna is an institution in Estonia - a virtual religion to some extent.
| Religion |
The leading faith among Estonians is Lutheranism (about 172,000 members in 166 congregations in 1995). Before World War II about 80% of the population belonged to the Lutheran church. Under Soviet regime, the Church and Christian faith were banned from social life. For example, in the 1970s fewer than 10% of the population openly admitted being Christians. Since 1988, the influence of the Lutheran Church in Estonia has been steadily increasing as religion enjoys full freedom again and is experiencing a revival. Christian faith was an important element in the national independence movements of the 1980s and 1990s.
There are also small Estonian Apostolic Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and Baptist communities across the country. Others established, but rather small denominations are Methodists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Roman Catholics, Christian Pentecostal Church, Moslems, Old Believers, Jehovah's Witnesses, New Apostolic Church and Jewish community. All in all, Estonia has about 25 different religious denominations with about 300,000 members at the most. |
