Estonian vocabulary

Last updated June 13, 2024

Estonian vocabulary, i.e., the vocabulary of the Estonian language, was influenced by many other language groups.

Germanic languages

The heaviest external contribution, nearly one third of the vocabulary, comes from Germanic languages, mainly from Low Saxon (Middle Low German) during the period of German rule, and High German (including standard German). The percentage of Low Saxon and High German loanwords can be estimated at 22–25 percent, with Low Saxon making up about 15 percent.^[1]^[2]

Ex nihilo lexical enrichment

Estonian language planners such as Ado Grenzstein (a journalist active in Estonia in the 1870s–90s) tried to use formation ex nihilo , Urschöpfung,^[3] i.e. they created new words out of nothing. Examples are Ado Grenzstein's coinages kabe ‘draughts, chequers’ and male ‘chess’.^[3]

The most famous reformer of Estonian, Johannes Aavik (1880–1973), also used creations ex nihilo (cf. ‘free constructions’, Tauli 1977), along with other sources of lexical enrichment such as derivations, compositions and loanwords (often from Finnish; cf. Saareste and Raun 1965: 76). Aavik belonged to the so-called Noor Eesti (‘Young Estonia’) movement, which appeared in Tartu, a university town in south-eastern Estonia, around 1905 (for discussion, see Raun 1991). In Aavik's dictionary (1921), which lists approximately 4000 words, there are many words which were (allegedly) created ex nihilo. Consider • ese ‘object’, • kolp ‘skull’, • liibuma ‘to cling’, • naasma ‘to return, come back’, • nõme ‘stupid, dull’, • range ‘strict’, • reetma ‘to betray’, • solge ‘slim, flexible, graceful’ (which did not gain currency, cf. Contemporary Estonian graatsiline ‘graceful’, although the word itself is used for a parasitic worm, namely Ascaris lumbricoides), and • veenma ‘to convince’. Other Aavikisms ex nihilo (not appearing in Aavik 1921) include • nentima ‘to admit, state’, • nördima ‘to grow indignant’, • süüme ‘conscience’, and • tõik ‘fact’."^[3]

Note, however, that many of the coinages that have been considered (often by Aavik himself) as words concocted ex nihilo could well have been influenced by foreign lexical items, for example words from Russian, German, French, Finnish, English and Swedish. Aavik had a broad classical education and knew Ancient Greek, Latin and French. Consider • relv ‘weapon’ versus English revolver, • roim ‘crime’ versus English crime, • siiras ‘sincere’ versus English sincere/serious • embama ‘to embrace’ versus English embrace, and • taunima ‘to condemn, disapprove’ versus Finnish tuomita ‘to judge’ (these Aavikisms appear in Aavik's 1921 dictionary). Consider also • evima ‘to have, possess, own’ (cf. also Estonian omama ‘to own’, and mul on, lit. ‘to me is’, i.e. ‘for me there is’, meaning ‘I have’) versus English have; • laup ‘forehead’ versus Russian лоб lob ‘forehead’; • mõrv ‘murder’ and mõrvama ‘to murder’ versus English murder and German Mord (these Aavikisms do not appear in Aavik 1921); and • laip ‘corpse’ versus German Leib ‘body’ and German Leiche ‘body, corpse’. These words might be better regarded as a peculiar manifestation of morpho-phonemic adaptation of a foreign lexical item. The often irregular and arbitrary sound changes could then be explained not as subconscious foreign influence but rather as conscious manipulation by the coiner. Aavik seems to have paid little attention to the origin of his neologisms. On occasion, he replaced existing native words or expressions with neologisms of foreign descent. Therefore, Aavik cannot be considered a purist in the traditional sense, i.e. he was not ‘anti-foreignisms/loanwords’ as such.^[4]

Tables of word origin

Inherited vocabulary

Inherited vocabulary in Estonian can be classified according to how far off they have cognates among the other Uralic languages.

"Uralic" words have known cognates in the Samoyedic languages.
"Finno-Ugric" words have known cognates at furthest in the Ugric languages.
"Finno-Permic" words have known cognates at furthest in the Permic languages.
"Finno-Volgaic" words have known cognates at furthest in the Mari language or the Mordvinic languages (formerly known as "Volgaic").
"Finno-Samic" words have known cognates at furthest in the Samic languages.
"Finnic" words have known cognates only among the Finnic languages.

All these groups correspond to different proposed subgroups of the Uralic languages. However, the historical reality of most groupings is disputed. In principle e.g. a "Finno-Permic" word may be just as old as a "Uralic" word, just one whose descendants have not survived to the modern Samoyedic and Ugric languages.

Proposed origin	No. of word roots	Examples by semantic area
Proposed origin	No. of word roots	Nature and the body	Cultural concepts	Abstract concepts
Uralic	120	Anatomy: keel 'tongue; language', kõrv 'ear', luu 'bone', maks 'liver', põlv 'knee', põsk 'cheek', silm 'eye', muna 'egg', neelama 'to swallow', pala 'piece', sulg 'feather' States: elama 'to live; to dwell', koolma 'to die, pass away, decease', pelgama 'to be afraid, fear', tundma 'to feel' Environment: suvi 'summer', päev 'day', kaja 'echo', kuu 'moon, Luna', lumi 'snow', soo 'marsh, bog, swamp', vesi 'water', juga 'jet; falls, waterfall' Plants: puu 'tree', kuusk 'spruce, fir(-tree)', kõiv 'birch', murakas 'cloudberry' Animals: kala 'fish', küü 'snake; blindworm', sisalik 'lizard'	Technology: tuli 'fire', süsi 'ember(s), coal', suusk 'ski', nool 'arrow', pura 'auger', sõudma 'to row', punuma 'to knit', vask 'copper', vöö 'belt, girdle'; pada 'pot', leem 'soup, broth, brew' Society: vägi 'power, vigour, strength, might, force', sala 'secretly', naine 'woman', nimi 'name'	Basic actions: minema 'to go', tulema 'to come', ujuma 'to swim', kaduma 'to disappear', mõskma 'to wash' Locations: ala 'under, sub', üla 'upper, top', esi 'front', taga 'behind' Grammatical: m(in)a 'I', s(in)a 'thou', see 'this, it', kes 'who', mis 'what', too 'that', ei 'no' Numerals: kaks 'two', viis 'five'
Finno-Ugric	270	Anatomy: aju 'brain', üdi 'marrow', hing 'soul', huul 'lip', pea 'head', pii 'tooth', päkk 'ball of the foot', sapp 'gall, bile', vats 'belly, stomach' Environment: ilm 'weather, air', jää 'ice', koit 'dawn, daybreak, Aurora', talv 'winter', sügis 'autumn', voor 'drumlin' Plants: paju 'willow', pihl 'rowan', kask 'birch', mari 'berry', pohl 'cowberry' Animals: kamar 'rind', nugis 'marten', siil 'hedgehog', hiir 'mouse', püü 'grouse', mõtus 'capercaillie', vares 'crow', pääsuke 'swallow', säga 'catfish', säinas 'ide', särg 'roach', täi 'louse', kusilane 'ant', koi 'moth, bug'	Technology: põlema 'burn, blaze', küdema 'burn, heat', või 'butter', väits 'knife', vestma 'carve', sau 'clay; stock for walking'; sõba 'robe' ise 'self', iga 'age' Society: küla 'village'; isa 'father', poeg 'son', küdi 'brother-in-law', kond '-hood', nõid 'witch', sepp 'blacksmith'	aru 'sense, reason' Adjectives: valge 'white', hahk 'gray; eider', süva 'deep-seated, profound', uus 'new' Numerals: üks 'one', kolm 'three', neli 'four', kuus 'six'
Finno-Permic	50–140	Anatomy: kõht 'stomach', kõri 'throat', säär 'leg, shank' Environment: koobas 'cave', põrm 'dust, earth' Plants: peda(jas) 'pine tree', kuslapuu 'honeysuckle', oks 'branch', pähkel 'nut', kiud 'fiber' Animals: kotkas 'eagle', orav 'squirrel', peni 'dog', sõnnik 'dung'	rehi 'threshing barn', kuduma 'to weave, to knit', amb 'crossbow', mõla 'oar, paddle', õng 'angle', äi 'father-in-law', äike 'thunder'	parem 'right, better', vana 'old', lõuna 'south, midday', meel 'mind'
Finno-Volgaic	100–150	Anatomy: selg 'back', koon 'snout', käpp 'paw' Environment: kevad 'spring', täht 'star', järv 'lake' Plants: haab 'aspen', saar 'ash tree', tamm 'oak', vaher 'maple', sarapuu 'hazel', õlg 'straw' Animals: lehm 'cow', siga 'pig', kurg 'crane, stork', kurvits 'sandpiper', parm 'horse fly', sääsk 'midge'	vaim 'spirit', pett 'buttermilk', jahvatama to grind'; keema 'to boil', hiilgama 'to glow, to gleam', käis 'sleeve', piir 'border'; vene 'boat'; lell 'uncle, father's brother', kargama 'to jump', pesema 'to wash', püsima 'to stay, to remain', lüpsma 'to milk'	Adjectives: aher 'barren', jahe 'cool', kõva 'hard', süva 'deep'
Finno-Samic	130–150	vihm 'rain', sammal 'moss', org 'valley', vili 'grain, fruit', põõsas 'bush', põud 'drought'	veli 'brother', ime 'miracle', luule 'poetry'	õnn 'happiness, fortune', taga 'back, behind', tõsi 'truth', nälg 'hunger', küll 'surely'
Finnic	600–800	higi 'sweat', külg 'side'; põder 'elk', oja 'stream', udu 'fog', hobu 'horse', jänes 'hare', konn 'frog', mänd 'pine tree', neem 'cape', saar 'island'	aeg 'time', eile 'yesterday'; laps 'child', rahvas 'people', linn 'town'; nuga 'knife', king 'shoe'	kõne 'talk, speech', sõna 'word'; julge 'bold'

Loanwords

Proposed origin	No. of word roots	Period	Examples
Proto-Indo-European loans (hypothetical)^{[ citation needed ]}	appr. 50	5000–3000 BC	koib 'leg', kube 'groin', liha 'meat', lõug 'chin', nahk 'skin, leather', rind 'breast'; mägi 'hill, mountain', mets 'forest', nõmm 'moor', soo 'bog'; ahven 'perch', koger 'crucian carp', koha 'pike-perch', rääbis 'vendace', siig 'whitefish', vimb 'vimba bream'; helmes 'bead'
Indo-European and Indo-Iranian loans	20–45	3000–1000 BC	jumal 'god', koda 'house, hall', mesi 'honey', sool 'salt', osa 'part', sada 'hundred', põrsas 'piglet', rebane 'fox', varss 'calf', sarv 'horn', puhas 'clean', utt 'ewe', vasar 'hammer', vedama 'to pull, draw, drag, carry, drive'
Proto-Baltic and Baltic loans	100–150	1500–500 BC	hammas 'tooth', hani 'goose', hein 'hay', hernes 'pea', hõim 'tribe', oinas 'wether', puder 'porridge', põrgu 'hell', ratas 'wheel', seeme 'seed', sein 'wall', mets 'wood', luht 'waterside meadow', sõber 'friend', tuhat 'thousand', vagu 'furrow', regi 'sledge', vill 'wool', veel 'more, still', kael 'neck', kirves 'axe', laisk 'lazy'
Proto-Germanic and Germanic loans	380	2000 BC – 13th century	Agriculture: agan, ader 'plough', humal, kana 'hen', kaer 'oats', rukis 'rye', lammas 'sheep', leib 'bread', põld 'field' Fishing and seafaring: aer 'oar', mõrd 'fish trap', laev 'ship', noot 'seine, sweep net', puri 'sail' Metals: kuld 'gold', raud 'iron', tina 'tin' Products: sukk 'stocking', katel 'kettle', küünal 'candle', taigen 'dough' Society: kuningas 'king', laen 'loan', luna 'ransom, bail', raha 'money', rikas 'rich', vald 'parish, community' Nature: kalju 'rock', kallas 'shore', rand 'coast' Other: arbuma 'to magic, charm', tabama 'to catch, seize, capture, hit', armas 'dear', taud 'disease', kaunis 'beautiful', ja 'and'
Old Slavic loans	50–75	10th–13th century	aken 'window', haug 'pike', kasukas 'fur coat' sahk 'plough', sirp 'sickle', turg 'market', teng(elpung) 'money' Religion: pagan 'heathen', papp 'priest', raamat 'book', rist 'cross'
Proto-Latvian loans	40	6th–7th century	kanep 'hemp', lääts 'lentil', magun 'poppy', udras 'otter', kõuts 'tomcat', palakas 'sheet', lupard 'rag', harima 'cultivate, educate, clean', kukkel 'bun', vanik 'garland', laabuma 'to thrive', kauss 'bowl', mulk 'inhabitant of Viljandi county', pastel 'leather slipper'
Low Saxon loans	750	12th–16th century	kool 'school', uurima 'to search, study, survey', neer 'kidney', ribi 'rib'; hunt 'wolf; hound', piik 'spike, lance', just 'just, namely', kruus 'gravel', torm 'storm'; plaaster 'tape, plaster'; hangeldama 'smuggle', küürima 'scour', tingima 'to bargain', toober 'tub', tiik 'pond', lamp 'lamp', lühter 'chandelier', näärid 'new year', reede 'Friday' Botany: kõrvits 'pumpkin', peet 'beet', salat 'salad', petersell 'parsley', münt 'coin', köömen 'caraway, cumin', loorber 'laurel', palm 'palm (tree)', tamm 'dam', roos 'rose', ploom 'plum' Culinary: köök 'kitchen', kruubid 'groat', kringel 'kringle, type of pastry', pannkook 'pancake', pekk 'lard', prantssai 'type of pastry', sült 'brawn', vorst 'sausage', õli 'oil', tärklis 'starch', pruukost 'breakfast', kruus 'mug', pann 'pan', pütt 'barrel', korv 'basket', lähker 'bota' Clothing: käärid 'scissors', teljed 'looms', vokk 'spinning wheel', lõuend 'canvas', samet 'velvet', siid 'silk', vilt 'felt', kuub 'coat', kört 'skirt', loor 'veil', müts 'cap', muda 'mud', mantel 'coat', püksid 'pants, trousers', vammus 'coat', nööp 'button' Architecture: hoov 'courtyard', häärber 'mansion', kelder 'cellar', kemmerg 'toilet', korsten 'chimney', ruum 'room', saal 'hall', tall 'stables', trepp 'stairs', vall 'wall, ridge', võlv 'vault' Technology: haamer 'hammer', hing 'hinge', höövel 'planer', kellu 'trowel', kapp 'cupboard', pink 'bench', tool 'stool'; jaht 'hunt', jääger 'hunter, hunt manager, game warden', kants 'stronghold', kütt 'hunter', laager 'camp', lahing 'battle', püss 'gun, rifle', tääk 'bayonet', vaht 'watch' Religion: altar 'altar', ingel 'angel', jünger 'disciple', psalm 'psalm', prohvet 'prophet', salm 'verse', preester 'priest', troost 'consolation', pihtima 'to confess', vöörmünder 'church warden, beadle', piiskop 'bishop', sant 'beggar, cripple' People: preili 'miss, maiden', memm 'old woman', mats 'boor, hick', härra 'gentleman', proua 'lady', kelm 'dodger, rascal, cheat', narr 'joker, fool', naaber 'neighbour', kuller 'courrier', laat 'fair, market', selts 'society, club', krahv 'count', saks 'German, nobleman', arst 'doctor' Measures: kortel 'quartern', matt 'a measure', toll 'inch', vaagima 'to weigh', viht 'weight', üür 'rent', paar 'pair', topelt 'double', väärt 'valuable', tosin 'dozen', veerand 'quarter'; tund 'hour', vastlad 'shrovetide' Nautical: ankur 'anchor', kiil 'keel', tüür 'steer', praam 'pram, ferry', madrus 'sailor', pootsman 'boatswain', kotermann 'ship gremlin', loots 'pilot', kipper 'skipper' Arts: kaart 'map, card', kunst 'art', maaler 'painter', maalima 'to paint', paber 'paper', trükkima 'to print', trumm 'drum', tantsima 'to dance', piip 'pipe', vilepill 'whistle', pasun 'horn, trumpet'
Swedish loans	140	13th–17th century	kratt 'stealing demon', kroonu 'army, government', kuunar 'schooner', pagar 'baker', näkk 'mermaid, nix', plasku 'flask', plika 'girl', tasku 'pocket', räim 'herring', tünder 'barrel', moor 'old woman', puldan, tont 'ghost, demon'
Russian loans	350	14th–20th century	kapsas, tatar, puravik, riisikas, sihvka, kiisu, suslik, kulu, prussakas, tarakan, naarits, soobel, uss; noos, moiva, vobla, mutt; kamorka, putka, sara, lobudik, trahter, koiku, nari, pruss, tökat; hõlst, kamass, kirsa, kombinesoon, kott, puhvaika, marli, pintsak, retuusid, trussikud; kiisel, pontšik, rosolje, rupskid, borš, uhhaa, morss, samagon; batoon, kissell, plombiir, povidlo, šašlõkk, uhhaa; plotski, mahorka, pabeross; mannerg, kopsik; nuut, kantsik, piits, tupik, relss, jaam; kabi, knopka; kasakas, kasarmu, karauul, katelok, kiiver, munder, nekrut, pagun, polk, ranits, sinel, tentsik, utsitama, timukas, rajoon, türm, pops, artell; palakas, haltuura, parseldama, parisnik, siva, tolk, tots, pujään, kitt, tuur, ladna, prosta, sutike; kaanima, kostitama, kruttima, kupeldama
(High) German loans	500	16th–20th century	larhv, lokk, seitel; kastan, pappel, kirss, jasmiin, jorjen, kartul, tulp, vihk; ahv, auster, kalkun, siisike, miisu, mops, taks, kits, vau, viidikas, nepp, pistrik; klimp, klops, kotlet, kompvek, supp, tort, viiner, soust, vahvel, vürts, vein; jope, kittel, kampsun, kleit, vest, lips, värvel, sall, pluus; kamin, pliit, käär(kamber), sahver, latter, kabel, palat; pult, sohva, leen, kummut, kardin, sahtel; uur, klade, klamber, latern, sihverplaat, silt; opman, oober, tisler, tudeng, velsker, virtin, antvärk, aadlik, kärner, kilter, kutsar, lärm, oksjon, krempel, klatš; krehvtine, hull, liiderlik, napp, noobel, ontlik, plass, tumm, trammis; kleepima, klantsima, mehkeldama, sehkendama, rehkendama, trimpama, pummeldama, praalima, turnima; ahoi, proosit, hurraa, hopp, hallo
Finnish loans	90	19th–20th century	aare, sangar, harras, jenka, julm, jäik, sünge, tehas, uljas, vaist, vihjama, säilima, kuvama, haihtuma, anastama
Hebrew loans	< 5		jaana(lind) 'ostrich', tohuvabohu 'chaos'
Romani loans	< 5		manguma 'to beg'

Other

Proposed origin	No. of word roots	Examples
Estonian and unknown	appr. 1000	räni 'silicium', roie 'rib', salk 'bunch', videvik 'twilight', jäärak 'gorge, valley', ila 'saliva', aas 'meadow', lubi 'lime', lõhn 'smell', kaan 'leech', kesv 'barley', ürp 'cloak', hiili- 'to sneak', mahe 'sweet, gentle', mõru 'bitter', raip 'carrion', roni- 'to climb' + numerous onomatopoetic-descriptive words
Artificial	50–60	veenma 'to persuade, convince', roim 'crime' (probably derived from the English 'crime'), laip 'dead body, corpse' (probably derived from the German 'Leib'), kolp 'scull', relv 'weapon, arm', ese 'thing', süüme 'conscience; scruple', mõrv 'murder' (probably derived from the German 'Mord'), ulm 'dream', siiras 'sincere, candid', range 'rigorous, stern, severe, austere, strict, inexorable, relentless' (? German 'streng', Swedish 'sträng'), sulnis 'sweet, meek, mild', nõme 'silly', taunima 'to disapprove, deprecate, deplore', naasma 'to return', reetma 'to betray' (probably from the German '(ver)raten'), embama 'to embrace'; eirama 'to ignore', eramu 'private house', etlema 'to perform', kõlar 'loudspeaker', külmik 'refrigerator', meede 'measure', meene 'souvenir', siirdama 'to transplant', teave 'information', teismeline 'teenager', üllitis 'publication', ärandama, levima, süva(muusika), taies 'piece of art', rula 'skateboard'

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estonian language</span> Finnic language mostly spoken in Estonia

Estonian is a Finnic language of the Uralic family. Estonian is the official language of Estonia. It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population; it is also an official language of the European Union. Estonian is spoken natively by about 1.1 million people: 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,000 elsewhere.

Finno-Ugric is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th century and is criticized by some contemporary linguists such as Tapani Salminen and Ante Aikio. The three most spoken Uralic languages, Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian, are all included in Finno-Ugric.

In linguistics, a false friend is a word in a different language that looks or sounds similar to a word in a given language, but differs significantly in meaning. Examples of false friends include English embarrassed and Spanish embarazado 'pregnant'; English parents versus Portuguese parentes and Italian parenti ; English demand and French demander 'ask'; and English gift, German Gift 'poison', and Norwegian gift 'married'.

The Uralic languages form a language family of 42 languages spoken predominantly in Europe and North Asia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian. Other languages with speakers above 100,000 are Erzya, Moksha, Mari, Udmurt and Komi spoken in the European parts of the Russian Federation. Still smaller minority languages are Sámi languages of the northern Fennoscandia; other members of the Finnic languages, ranging from Livonian in northern Latvia to Karelian in northwesternmost Russia; and the Samoyedic languages, Mansi and Khanty spoken in Western Siberia.

Ural-Altaic, Uralo-Altaic, Uraltaic, or Turanic is a linguistic convergence zone and abandoned language-family proposal uniting the Uralic and the Altaic languages. It is now generally agreed that even the Altaic languages do not share a common descent: the similarities between Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic are better explained by diffusion and borrowing. Just as in Altaic, the internal structure of the Uralic family has been debated since the family was first proposed. Doubts about the validity of most or all of the proposed higher-order Uralic branchings are becoming more common. The term continues to be used for the central Eurasian typological, grammatical and lexical convergence zone.

The Ugric or Ugrian languages are a branch of the Uralic language family.

The Finno-Samic languages are a hypothetical subgroup of the Uralic family, and are made up of 22 languages classified into either the Sami languages, which are spoken by the Sami people who inhabit the Sápmi region of northern Fennoscandia, or Finnic languages, which include the major languages Finnish and Estonian. The grouping is not universally recognized as valid.

Indo-Uralic is a highly controversial linguistic hypothesis proposing a genealogical family consisting of Indo-European and Uralic.

Proto-Uralic is the unattested reconstructed language ancestral to the modern Uralic language family. The hypothetical language is thought to have been originally spoken in a small area in about 7000–2000 BCE, and expanded to give differentiated Proto-Languages. Some newer research has pushed the "Proto-Uralic homeland" east of the Ural Mountains into Western Siberia.

The Finno-Permic or Finno-Permian languages, sometimes just Finnic or Fennic languages, are a proposed subdivision of the Uralic languages which comprise the Balto-Finnic languages, Sámi languages, Mordvinic languages, Mari language, Permic languages and likely a number of extinct languages. In the traditional taxonomy of the Uralic languages, Finno-Permic is estimated to have split from Finno-Ugric around 3000–2500 BC, and branched into Permic languages and Finno-Volgaic languages around 2000 BC. Nowadays the validity of the group as a taxonomical entity is being questioned, and the interrelationships of its five branches are debated with little consensus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uralic–Yukaghir languages</span> Proposed language family

Uralic–Yukaghir, also known as Uralo-Yukaghir, is a proposed language family composed of Uralic and Yukaghir.

Hungarian is a Uralic language of the Ugric group. It has been spoken in the region of modern-day Hungary since the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in the late 9th century.

Elements of a Proto-Uralic religion can be recovered from reconstructions of the Proto-Uralic language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Aavik</span> Estonian philologist

Johannes Aavik was an Estonian philologist and Fennophile who played an influential role in the modernization and development of the Estonian language.

The Proto-Uralic homeland is the hypothetical place where speakers of the Proto-Uralic language lived in a single linguistic community, or complex of communities, before this original language dispersed geographically and divided into separate distinct languages.

Rogier Philip Charles Eduard Blokland is a Dutch linguist and Professor of Finno-Ugric languages at Uppsala University.

Ado Grenzstein, pseudonym A. Piirikivi was an Estonian journalist, writer and teacher, brother of Tõnis Grenzstein. In 1881 he founded the Olevik newspaper, which become one of the most important Estonian newspapers of the period. The purpose of the paper was "weaning the Estonian peasant readership away from the 'firebrands and madcaps' who edited Sakala". He soon broke with the Estonian national movement and became an apologist of Russification. He even went further, expressing doubt whether the loss of the Estonian nation would be of any consequence to mankind. His views have been characterized as "national nihilism". In 1901 he left Estonia and settled first in Dresden, and then later in Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate</span> Category of words in some Uralic languages

Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate refers to substratum loanwords from unidentified non-Indo-European and non-Uralic languages that are found in various Finno-Ugric languages, most notably Sami. The presence of Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate in Sami languages was demonstrated by Ante Aikio. Janne Saarikivi points out that similar substrate words are present in Finnic languages as well, but in much smaller numbers.

Sino-Uralic or Sino-Finnic is a long-range linguistic proposal that links the Sinitic languages (Chinese) and the Uralic languages. Sino-Uralic is proposed as an alternative to the Sino-Tibetan family and is at odds with mainstream comparative linguistics, which firmly includes the Sinitic languages in the Sino-Tibetan family. The proposal has been brought forward by the Chinese linguist Jingyi Gao, based on works by 19th century linguists such as Karl August Hermann. Gao suggested the proto-population could have lived in Neolithic China and carried the Haplogroup N, claiming that a common proto-language could have been spoken around 5,000–10,000 years ago. However, connections with the Uralic and other language families are generally seen as speculative.

World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples is the representative forum of Finno-Ugric and Samoyedic peoples. The forum is not related to any government or political party. The goals of the forum is to "develop and protect national identity, cultures and languages of Finno-Ugric peoples, to promote cooperation between Finno-Ugric peoples, to discuss topical issues and to identify solutions, and to realise the right of Finno-Ugric peoples to self-determination in accordance with international norms and principles".

References

↑ Liin, Helgi 1968. Alamsaksa laensõnadest 16. ja 17. sajandi eesti kirjakeeles. – Emakeele Seltsi aastaraamat 13, 1967. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 47–70 (in Estonian)
↑ History of Estonian vocabulary Archived 2007-07-21 at the Wayback Machine (in Estonian)
1 2 3 See p. 149 in Zuckermann, Ghil'ad 2003, Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, (Palgrave Studies in Language History and Language Change, Series editor: Charles Jones). ISBN 1-4039-1723-X.
↑ See p. 150 in Zuckermann, Ghil'ad 2003, Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, (Palgrave Studies in Language History and Language Change, Series editor: Charles Jones). ISBN 1-4039-1723-X.