words for fox in Finnic and European languages

Last week was Rebaste nädal in the school where I work. Rebane is the Estonian word for "fox", so the phrase translates as "Week of the Foxes". It is a week in which the new 10th grades are initiated into life in their new gümnaasium (upper-high school), forced to do humiliating tasks and wear stupid costumes by the 12th graders. It got me thinking about the origin of the word rebane. Below is what I found out with the help of Wiktionary, the Online Etymology Dictionary and the Võro-Eesti Synaraamat.

Fox by Bumblebee Images.

The Estonian rebane goes back to the Proto-Finno-Ugric (PFU) *repä, and is cognate with Finnish, Karelian and Votic repo, Veps reboi, Northern Sámi rieban and Võro repän/rebo, amongst others. This is apparently a loan from Indo-European, as seen by the Proto-Germanic *rebaz, Persian rubah and modern Scandinavian räv/ræv.

Students of Finnish will know that the modern word for "fox" in Finnish is kettu, while repo and repolainen are archaic and/or poetic. Wiktionary states that the word kettu is "derived from the archaic noun kesi ('skin'), probably because of the importance of the fox as a skin and fur animal".

It seems that the English fox and German Fuchs have a different origin to the words in Scandinavian and Baltic-Finnic. The former words have their origin in the Proto-Germanic *fuh-, which corresponds to PIE *puk- "tail" (cf. Sanskrit puccha- "tail"). 

The latter words should be compared to the Spanish/Portuguese word rabo "tail", giving the modern word for "fox" of raposa in Galician and Portuguese. This word can be traced back to the Latin rāpum "turnip". The modern Spanish word for "fox", zorro, is a loan from the Basque azeri.

The journey from "tail" to "fox" is also seen in the Lithuanian uodegis "fox", from uodega "tail". Compare English bushy tail to Welsh lwynog "fox" (from llwyn "bush"; cf. Estonian vihtsaba below).

In Irish there are two terms for fox: sionnach and madra rua. The latter literally translates as "red-haired dog" (madra "dog", rua "red of hair"). Curiously the Irish term for "thresher shark" is sionnach mara "fox of the sea". The word sionnach is also to be found in Gaelic, and gives the phrase sionnach ann an craiceann na caorach "a wolf in sheep's clothing" (craiceann "skin, hide", sionnach "fox"). Curiously the Gaelic term sionnachair can mean either "fox hunter" or "will-o'-the-wisp". Sionnach in Gaelic can also mean "valve, bellows", giving the Gaelic pìob-shionnaich "uilleann pipes".

Returning to Estonia, Estonian and Võro have the word reinuvader / reinovatõr' "Rein's godparent". This comes from a folktale (Reinowadder Rebbane as told by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald) where a fox becomes the godparent to an orphan.

Võro also has the term sorrõhand, which translates as "fluent tail" (sorav saba in Estonian). Learners of Finnish will in the Võro word hand recognise the Finnish häntä "tail". An Estonian term for "fox" that uses the word saba is vihtsaba "bunch of twigs tail" (cf. English bushy tail and Welsh lwynog)

See also this page for other names for "fox" in Estonian, and this page for the terms for other forest creatures. For example, echoing the Irish madra rua above, in Estonian the fox is also known as laanekoer "dog of the greenwood" (< laas "greenwood", also lehtmets) or metsapune "forest red".

learning Estonian through advertising (2)

I will avoid translating and providing details for every word in this picture, as to do so would make the post too long. However, provided below is a translation for every sentence and a discussion of some of the more interesting words and expressions. (Click on picture to enlarge.)

Kui emme tahab kinno, siis emme läheb kinno!

If/when mom wants [to go] to the cinema, mom goes to the cinema!

Võta beebi kaasa, sõbrannad ligi ja Solaris Kino ootab teid!

Bring the baby along and have your girlfriends close. Solaris Cinema awaits your visit!

NB! Emme ja Beebi Kinopäevale on ka issid väga teretulnud!

NB! Dads are also very welcome at the Mom and Baby Cinema Days.

Imelises Kehrwiederi Jäätisekohvikus kinopileti esitamisel saavad emmed ja nende beedid 2 teed või 2 mahla ühe hinnaga, samuti pakutakse 10% soodustust teistele jookidele ja kookidele.

In the marvellous Kehrwieder Ice-cream café moms and babies get 2 teas or 2 juices for the price of 1, as well as a 10%  discount on other drinks and cakes [slices of cakes], on the presentation of a cinema ticket.

Kohvikus Komeet ootab teid spetsiaalne BEEBIMENÜÜ – klientidele vanuses 1-17 kuud. Valmistame erinevaid värskeid aed- ja puuviljamehusid ning püreesid kõige pisematele.

In Komeet café a special BABY MENU awaits - for customers aged 1-17 months. We prepare various fresh vegetable and fruit juices* and purées for all little ones.

~~~~~~~~

ligi 'near, close; nearly', Eestis on ligi 6000 mesinikku 'There are close to/ nearly 6,000 beekeepers in Estonia', present in the compound ligipääs 'access', as in Õiglane ligipääs kõrgharidusele Eestis 'Equitable [just/fair/unbiased] access to vocational education in Estonia.'

kinopileti esitamisel = kino 'cinema' + pilet 'ticket' + -i gen. suffix + esitamise < esitamine 'act of presenting' + -l ade. case = on presentation of a cinema ticket

ühe hinnaga = ühe gen. of üks 'one' + hinna gen. of hind 'price' + -ga com. case. = for the price of one (lit. with the price of one).

vili - 'fruit, crop'. Beware in Estonian that the English words vegetable and fruit are translated as aedvili 'garden crop'/ juurvili 'root crop' and puuvili 'tree crop' respectively. Thus värskeid aed- ja puuviljamehusid - fresh vegetable and fruit juice (lit. fresh garden and tree crop juice).  A carrot porgand would be an example of a juurvili but a courgette (zucchini) would be an example of a aedvili. There is also the word köögivili 'cooking crop'.

mehu - in Finnish this is the simple word for juice, as in appelsiinimehu 'orange juice'. Here however, in Estonian, it refers specifically more to a juice with pulp. EKSS (Explanation dictionary of the Estonian language) defines mehu as viljalihaga mahl 'juice with fruit meat' (meat here as in nutmeat), mahl being the simple word for juice, which we have seen above in 2 teed või 2 mahla '2 teas or 2 juices' (teed here is in the singular partitive, not the nominative plural (forms are identical), cf. kaks mahla '2 juices', singular partitive of mahl, and mahlad 'juices', nominative plural).

pisematele = pisem < pisike 'tiny, minute' + -a- gen. affx + -te- gen. pl. affix + -le all. case = for little ones (lit. on to the tinier ones)

* with pulp

follow now also on tumblr!

You can now follow, like and share the Estonian language blog on Tumblr!

I will be posting lots of short and snappy Tumblr-sized Estonian language posts: favourite words, phrases, words of wisdom, breakdowns of the language on signs and in advertising.

The content on the two blogs will be different, so the Tumblr blog will not simply be a mirror of this blog but on a different blogging platform. On this blog I will continue to post longer posts, which aren't really suitable for the short and snappy re-blogging Tumblr format.

learning Estonian through advertising (1)

Lase oma sisemine sportlane välja. - Release your inner athlete.

lase - vb., 2nd person sg. imperative of laskma (da-inf. = lasta): let, allow!

oma – reflexive poss. adj. (refers back to preceding pronun).

cf.  Õpetaja ütles õpilasele, et ta loeks oma raamatut. 'The teacher told the student to read his own [the student's] book.'

Õpetaja ütles õpilasele, et ta loeks tema raamatut. 'The teacher told the student to read his [the teacher's] book.'

Ma loen oma raamatut! - I am reading (some of) my book. Sa loed oma raamatut! - You are reading (some of) your book.

sisemine – adj. inner (ending mine should not be confused with suffix -mine, the latter signifying 'act of doing', as in luge+mine 'reading' (from lugema 'read'), söö+mine 'eating' (sööma 'eat'), etc. You know -mine attaches to the stem of the ma-infinitive and not the da-infinitive, because it's söömine and not süümine* (da-infinitive is süüa)). The breakdown of sisemine is actually sisemi+ne, -ne being an adjectival ending, with sg. genitive -se and sg. partitive -st.

sportlane – n. sportsperson. It can stand for both male 'sportsman' and female 'sportswoman', though if one wishes to specify 'sportswoman' one can use the female form of the suffix -lane (sg. gen. -lase, sg. part. -last), which is -lanna (sg. gen. -lanna, sg. part. -lannat). However, it must be said that this is a rare usage, especially in the singular. A female athlete would call herself sportlane, just like in English where more and more actresses refer to themselves as 'actor'.

Where I have most heard the use of the -lanna suffix is in the word sõbranna 'female friend', what straight women in English call a 'girlfriend'. It can also be used with nationalities: cf. eestlane, eestlased 'Estonian person, Estonians'; eestlanna, eestlannad 'Estonian woman, Estonian women'. The stand alone noun maa ('land') used in compound nouns and the suffix -lane are very productive. Ex. Iiri+maa, iir+lane 'Ireland, Irish person', Vene+maa, vene+lane 'Russia, Russian person', etc. (Be careful of the dropped final vowel in the first part of iirlane - not iirilane*. Cf. Soome, soomlane 'Finland, Finn' and Eesti, eestlane 'Estonian, Estonian person').

välja – adv. 'out' as in Lind lendas aknast välja. 'The bird flew out through (lit. 'from') the window' and väljapääs 'exit' (pääs 'escape' < pääsemine/pääsema 'escape n./vb.' ; 'way, passage'. Cf. sisepääs 'entrance' as in sisepääs kaubamajja 'entrance to the department store'. The double j here is not a mistake, majja is the sg. illative case form of maja 'house, building' – the illative is often expressed by a lengthening of a vowel or consonant of the word, and may not be indicated in the orthography. For example kool 'school' (nom. long o), kooli 'of the school' (gen., long o), but kooli 'to the school' (ill., overlong o in speech, but not in orthography)).

Not to be confused with the orthographically identical, but phonetically different välja, the genitive form of the noun väli 'field, empty space, expanse'. The latter has a long l, which you will notice is not indicated by the orthography. Estonian has a few nice, little, juicy gems like this. For example, take the two orthographically identical words palk 'wage' and palk 'log'. The latter has a palatalised l. Their genitive and partitive forms are also different: wage: palk, palga, palka ; log: palk, palgi, palki. And so you know, the palatalised l continues also through the case forms of log. There is also the partitive case form of väli, which is also välja, but with a short l.

Handy reminder of the above: välja (short l) = 1) adverb meaning 'out' ; 2) partitive case form of väli 'field, empty space, expanse'. välja (long l) = genitive case form of väli.

Estonian comedy and TV with subtitles

On their YouTube channel Catapult Films has kindly taken the time to upload some of their videos with English subtitles. Like any people, Estonians love their comedy, but over the years I have missed out on a number of laughs as it's not possible to follow the story when there is no aid in terms of subtitles.

Lastefarmer (Children farmer) - A struggling farmer struggling to make end's meet comes up with a genius plan to generate money.

 

Päästeamet "Purjusujumise treeninglaager" (Estonian Rescue Service "Drunk Swimming Training Camp") - Founder and trainer of the Estonian Drunk Swimming Association takes us around his training camp to teach us a very important lesson.

 

It has been possible for a few years to watch Estonian TV online, but what I didn't know until now is that some of them have subtitles in Estonian, which makes it easier to follow the story. An example is the long-run soap Õnne 13. The show is your standard daytime TV soap, so don't expect to find it engaging in terms of content. However, with subtitles it's watchable and useful as a learning aid.

English in Estonian: Estonglish

As a teacher I hear a lot of English being mixed in with Estonian by the young. Two examples I came across recently were:

Tegin cheatiga (I.did [it] with.a.cheat), during a discussion between two middle-school boys, obviously about a computer game, and, written as a comment under an Estonian music video on YouTube, the following:

Minu vend vihkab aga mina fännan (My brother hates it but I.am.a.fan), the first time I have encountered the Estonian rendering of the English word ‘fan’ fänn used as a verb.

The photo to the right was taken at a bus shelter in Tallinn. It you look closely you can recognise many words borrowed from English or which are international words also shared by English:

traditsiooniline - traditional

limonaad - fizzy drink; brand name of a fizzy drink

In the former meaning Coke (koka in Estonian) can be called a limonaad. A similar drink is morss which is diluted juice drink made from concentrate, a very common sight on Estonian tables during parties and often homemade by vanaema maal 'grandmother in the countryside', though my wife's family says Mummi, which is the Finnish for 'granny'.

muusika - music

musa - slang for music (s.nom.; mussi - pl.part.)

Comment by keelek6rv:
You wrote: "musa - slang for music (s.nom.; mussi - pl.part.)"

Well, there are at least two slang words for "muusika" and both are used in this poster.

nom sg musa, gen sg musa, part sg musa, part pl musasid (grammatically pl part and any other pl form exists but pl forms are almost never used, though)

nom sg muss, gen sg mussi, part sg mussi (third degree), part pl musse

So at first "musa" was used, and then "muss" in this advertisement.

kood - code (s.gen. koodi, pl.gen. koodide, pl.part. koode)

bänd - music group (band)

skänni (skännima) - scan! (vb. scan)

Skänni koode siit! - Scan the codes from here! (siit <-- siin 'here')

Translations:

Limonaad üllatab muusikaga - Limonaad [brand name] astonishes with music

üllatama - to astonish, take by surprise

Kogu koodide alt kokku tasuta plaaditäis mussi noortebänd 2012 parimatelt! - Collect from the codes together below a free record full of music from the best [groups] of Youth Band 2012.

kogu can mean 'whole' (like terve) but here it is the command form of koguma (collect, gather, accumulate etc.; pl. would be koguge)

plaaditäis - record-full (plaat - record)

Hea muusika fänn aastast 1936 - A fan of good music [though 'a good music fan' could also be a reading but is unlikely] since the year 1936.

Estonian B1 exam

A2-C1 Estonian language exam time-table 2013
2nd period exam consultation times
Test yourself

As some of you know last month I took the Estonian language B1 state exam (Eesti keele B1-tasemeeksam). I passed!

Two weeks before the exam the centre runs a group consultation where a teacher goes through the exam. It is, of course, not compulsory to attend but I would recommend it. It is a chance to get a feel for the paper and ask any questions. I had my consultation and exam in Pae Gümnaasium, Tallinn.

The consultation started at 09:58 and the majority of people left at 11:27. First the consultation co-ordinator gave an overview of the exam instructions. Then she did a mock oral with two volunteers. This lasts ~ 20m. Then we did the listening section. This is a set 35m. Then we just flicked through the reading and the writing. She went into a little more detail explaining how to do the writing - what to do, what NOT to do.

Technically you could stay to do a whole exam but you might very well be on your own. As I said, there were about 30 in the room and 1 left at 11.15 and 27 left at 11.27. I don't know if the remaining 2 or so stayed on longer or not. The consultation mostly takes place in Estonian (all info is in Estonian) but quite a bit is repeated in Russian as I think everyone else but me was native-Russian-speaking.

Half way through the listening section on a first listen of one of the tasks I got nervous and I kind of felt like I should drop out (you can cancel your exam no questions asked at least 1 week before). However, on the second time round listening I felt more confident. On the first listen one or two of the tasks always sound a bit tricky but the questions you are asked are generally straight-forward.

In general for the B1 level it's important to be very confident with question words and numbers in their proper cases. Overall you need clean, simple, correct language. Nothing fancy, just nice and basic.

The exam itself was roughly the same. The only different was the amount of people! I can't be exactly sure how many there were there doing the B1 exam but it was over 100 at the very least. However, you are put in small rooms with around 20 others so it's not like a big scary exam hall.

The examiners were very polite and friendly. They spoke real slow and clear when giving instructions. The exam is in two separate papers. There are four sections to the exam, each of which are worth 25 marks. First comes the written section for which you have 30 min. There are always two tasks. We had a 50-word note to write about missing a meeting (say why, reschedule and give contact details) and a 100-word word essay to write about a new hobby (why you like it, where you do it, and other interests you have). These were real easy and I finished the tasks very happy.

I made sure to plan my pieces ahead and write slowly and clearly. I wrote that my child was sick and we had to go to the doctors. The only mistake (not a mistake as such, more a change of meaning) that I had to go back and correct was that I wrote: Sellepärast et, minu laps on haige, me peame arsti juurde minema (As my child is sick, we have to doctor's place-to go). I changed it to Sellepärast et, minu laps on haige, me peame arsti juures käima, because if it's a trip to and back one uses the verb käima rather than minema (which then demands the inessive rather than the allative; and remember the verb pidama demands the -ma infinitive and not the -da infinitive!!) This task was then collected by the examiners.

Listening came next which lasted for 30 min. The first task is always real easy. You are given a number of short exchanges and you have to mark the correct answer from a list of choices. The only thing is that all possible answers marked on the page are actually mentioned in the text, just that only one of them is in the correct context for the question. Tasks two, three and four all contain only one text. The text in task 2 is normally an announcement and is also multiple choice but the possible answers are more wordy. In task three you have to write the answer yourself on the page (the start is done for you and you need to finish the sentences) and the text is normally an interview. Task four is again multiple choice and is also an interview.

The reading section last for 50 minutes. Task one is matching statements to little newspaper ads. Task two is a multiple choice text. Task 3 is fill in the gaps (multiple choice, 4 possible answers for every gap) and task 4 is also fill in the gaps but say if the text has 10 gaps you are given 12 possible fillers.

Then comes the final section, the speaking. There are two tasks. Before the tasks start the examiner will ask you some simple questions: where you were born, what is your favourite musician etc. She threw me off with a question I found weird which was Milleks te saate? which means What are you becoming? I looked really confused, not because I didn't understand the question but because I didn't understand why she was asking it. She had just assumed I was a student without asking, simply because I guess I look young and my conversation partner was a 19-year old student. I am not becoming anything, I am a teacher...

So yes, conversation partner. It's kind of weird. I have never had an oral exam before which was done in a pair. The first of the two tasks was we were given a page with pictures related to music and we were told to have a conversation about arranging a trip to a concert. My conversation partner was terrible. She hardly spoke and when she did it was with a really thick Russian accent. It was very hard to have a conversation with her but I did my best to talk as much as possible. The next task is in two parts. One of you is given a list of prompts and they have to ask questions of the partner. The other person reads out the answers (first the answers have to be found in the text which can be a little tricky to do as you are not given time to read the text beforehand). Then you swap roles.

My conversation partner totally messed up both parts (skipping questions, not waiting for my question before reading out the answer, giving me all the answers at one etc.) It was a disaster. Personally I'd rather do the exam with the examiner and work the role-plays like that but, unfortunately, because of time they have to double up to get everyone done that day.

That's something to remember. The exam started on the dot at 10 with the writing section. The reading section then finished at 11.55. Because I was lucky enough to be in the first pair because of my surname I had my oral section at 12.15 but beware that if your surname is at the end you might have to wait for 2 hours.

To pass you need to get 60 marks (60%) and in no task can you get 0 marks, i.e. every section is compulsory. Just be aware that you could be waiting up to 4 weeks for your result.

My result?  I got 90% overall: 23/25 for writing, 23/25 for listening, 25/25 for reading and 19/25 for speaking. I was hoping to get 80% overall but I am delighted with 90%, especially to score so high in writing, reading and listening. However, my speaking is a sad state of affairs in comparison. It would have been nice to get at least 21 pts. out of 25, but oh well.

tunnistus - attestation, certificate
tase - level (gen. taseme)
sooritama - commit, perform
oskus - ability, skill (part. oskust)
hindama - evaluate, rate

hinnati is the past form of the impersonal. hinnatakse - is (being) evaluated, ei hinnata - is not (being) evaluated, hinnati - was (being) evaluated, ei hinnatud - was not (being) evaluated

Tema keeleoskust hinnati järgmiselt.
Their language ability was evaluated as follows.

b1 eksam

So now that my Lithuanian exam for my A1 class in university is done (result was 90/100) I can turn to studying for my upcoming B1 exam on the 17th of February (Sunday three weeks). Time to hit the books and pester my wife for help!!

The Estonian Alphabet with video

It seems there is now a native Estonian speaker making videos about the language for learners, something that was until now lacking. Let's hope she continues with the good work. So far she has 5 videos about the language on her account. Check it out!

 

uudised

Tere kõigile!
Hi all!

As you have noticed this blog has been very quiet lately! The reason for this is that since September I have been learning Lithuanian at the university. I have been using some of my spare time to practise by blogging/posting in the language on Journey into Lithuanian. The course lasted a semester (14 weeks) and in January 2013 there will be the end of course exam.

Then, once that hurdle has been jumped I will jump back into my study of Estonian, which I am looking forward to in earnest. I have been itching* to attack the materials I have gathered over the last while, including some sample exam papers and tasks. Why? Well, I am going to sit the Estonian language B1 state exam in February 2013. I have been talking about sitting the exam for a while but I actually signed up the other week (eventually I would like to be comfortable enough in Estonian to sit the B2 exam, maybe also in 2013).

Don't expect any any new posts here until February, until after I finish the Lithuanian exam and get back into Estonian. In the meantime I want to focus on my Lithuanian to see how good a grade I can get!

Häid jõulupühi ja head uut aastat!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

* That's not to say that Lithuanian hasn't been very interesting! It has! Manau, kad lietuvių kalba yra graži ir įdomi kalba. Man labai patinka mokytis jos. (Arvan, et leedu keel on ilus ja huvitav keel. Mulle meeldib väga seda keelt õppida. / I think that Lithuanian is a beautiful and interesting language. I really like learning it.)

vocab

As I am studying for my PhD in Tallinn I have from time to time to read papers in Estonian. Here is a list of words from something I am reading at the moment.

erinevus - difference, dissimilarity
ilmne - obvious, plain, apparent, evident
ilmnema - to appear, manifest
ilmselt - obviously, apparently
ilmsesti - obviously, apparently
ilmsi - in reality
meenutus - flashback, recollection
keelejuht - informant [restricted to linguistic field work?]
kokkuvõte - conclusion, summary
käimasolev - in progress
käsitlema - to treat, deal with, consider moodustama - to form, constitute, make up
lähtuvalt - based on
määr - norm, standard; extent, degree, rate
narratoloogia - narratology
osaleja - participant
püüdma - catch; attempt, endeavour
raamistik - framework
sarnane - similar, alike
sündmus - event, ocassion
temaatika (n) - subject matter
temaatika (s) - thematic, topical
tulenema - to come, arise,  issue from, spring from, stem from
tulenev - resultant
vaatenurk - point of view, angle
võrdlus - comparison
väitma - to claim, allege, argue (a point)
üsna - quite

Say hello and news

Tere päevast teile kõigile,  eesti keele kaas-entusiastid!

I have a request to make of you all, readers of this blog. It would be nice if you could leave a comment below in which you introduce yourself and let me know a bit about your connection with this beautiful language. I'd be interesting in learning what you like about the blog and maybe what you'd like to see in the future.

As for the news, I announced here that I am planning to take the Estonian B2-level exam in September next year (with a pit-stop at the B1 exam in February). I haven't looked at the sample papers in a while (they are available here in Estonian - links to tasks are contained INSIDE the PDF files) but I do know I have much work to do. My main concerns are:

+ Acquiring a natural-sounding syntax
+ Improving grammatical accuracy when speaking
+ Building up vocabulary
+ Getting used to following lengthy spoken texts

Time for me to take another look at the sample papers now.

If you'd also like to learn about the exam and practice a bit you can also go: here and here.

Southern Estonian language

More than simply being a dialect of Estonian, Southern Estonian is a language in its own right separate of the state language. There are historically four recognized varieties: Mulgi, Tartu, Võro and Seto of which Võro is the strongest. The Tartu and Mulgi varieties are largely extinct. The historical territory of Southern Estonian covered the modern counties of Põlva, Võru and Valga and the southern half of Viljandi and Tartu. Enclaves also existed at one time in a number of locations in modern day Latvia and Russia but the only modern community of speakers outside Estonia are the Setos who inhabit the historical Setomaa (known today as Pechorsky District on the Russian side of the border).

Under its Tartu variety, Southern Estonian emerged as a distinct literary language in the C17 and was used in publishing and in education. The first Estonian translation of the New Testament (Meie Issanda Jesuse Kristuse Wastne Testament) appeared in Southern Estonian as did the first Estonian newspaper (Tarto-ma rahwa Näddali leht) and the language was also employed in education but its use declined during the nationalism movement in the second half of the C19 and early C20 and under communism where it was felt Estonia should have but one language (standard northern Estonian).

Since 1991 the state has supported a revival in the Võro variety of southern Estonia. Limited education in and about Võro and Seto take place at Tartu university and in Põlva and Võru counties.

Below I have two short examples of the Võro variety of southern Estonian (in bold) with a gloss in standard northern Estonian (normal) and English (italics). The first is a short song burned into wood and displayed outside a gift shop at Suur Munamägi (Big Egg Mountain), the Baltic States' highest point which is in Võrumaa, Estonia.

Last verse:

Laul um otsah, laul läts mõtsah.

Ei lää inamb edäsi.

Laul on otsas, laul läks metsa.

Ei lähe enam edasi.

The song is over, the song has failed (lit. went into the forest).

It continues no longer.

TM points out in the comments below that läks metsa and läks aia taha (lit. went behind the fence), when used with inanimate objects, are ways of saying 'failed, screwed up'. Thanks for pointing this out!

Wikipedia states that "some of the most ancient isoglosses within the Finnic languages separate South Estonian from the entire rest of the family". This includes the change from kc to ts as seen in southern Estonian üts and läts (cf. Estonian üks and Finnish yksi and Estonian läks).

The second is the start of a short children's story from Põhjatuul ja lõunatuul by Jaan Kaplinksi and written in Southern Estonian. This book is mostly written in northern Estonian but some of the stories are also provided in southern Estonian.

Ütskõrd pässi üts tsiga õdagu ilda tsiapahast vällä ja läts roitma ja ilma kaema. Edimält johtu ta uibuaida. Olli sügüsene aig ja uibu olliva ubinit täüs. Tsiga nühke sälgä vasta uibutüvve ja uibust satte mitu ubinat alla.

Kord pääses üks siga õhtul sulust välja ja läks hulkuma. Kõigepealt sattus ta õunaaeda. Oli sügisene aeg ja õunapuud õunu täis. Siga nühkis selga vastu õunapuud ja puu otsast kukkus mitu õuna.

Once upon a time a pig escaped in the evening from his pen to go awandering (and see the world). He first occured upon an apple orchard. It was autumn time and the trees were heavy with apples. The pig rubbed his back against the trunk of an apple tree and from the tree fell many apples.

Some more opaque vocabulary:

õdak - õhtu - evening, as in (tereq) õdagust! ((tere) õhtust!) and hüvvä/hääd õdagust! (head õhtust).

It can also mean 'west' (lääne) as in Õdagu-Eesti (Lääne-Eesti) and Õdagu-Õuruupa (Lääne-Euroopa)

ilda - hilja - late
(tsia)paha - sealaut - pig pen
roitma - hulkuma - wander
ilma kaema - ilmsi vaatama - see the world
edimält - kõigepealt - firstly
johtu < johtuma - juhtuma, sattuma - happen upon
uibu - õunapuu - apple tree [upin/upo - õun - apple]
satte < sadama - sadama - come, fall down

Colloquial Estonian question marker

Also see comments below from ainurakne on Unilang.org

So, you probably know that asking questions in Estonian can be quite easy. One way, which also exists in English, is to simply keep the structure of the question the same as with statements but but end with raising intonation.

Oled valmis.
You're ready.

Oled valmis?
(You're) ready?

Or in an advert for car rental in Tallinn that I saw on the train:

Vajad Tallinnas autot?
Need a car in Tallinn?

In the written language or in more formal speech you have learned that yes-no questions are prefaced with kas.

Kas oled valmis?
Are you ready? (Q you ready)

Kas vajad autot Tallinnas?
Do you need a car in Tallinn?

This you refers to the addressee, not the 'indefinite you' of many colloquial English sentences, which is referred to by one in more formal English.

Kas vajatakse autot Tallinnas?
Does one need a car in Tallinn?

However, the most colloquial way to ask a question in Estonian and a way that learners are advised to avoid because it can make you look un(der)educated or rude in the wrong situation is to end a statement with vä or ä.

Yesterday I heard a little girl ask her friend.

Lähed koju vä?
Going home? (you.go to.home Q)

This question maker should only be used in the spoken language and amongst family or friends. In other situations it is considered out of place.

You would ask a work-colleague that you are on friendly but professional terms:

Kas sa lähed koju?

Very often you will simply hear ä at the end or sometimes a sort of double question with kas at the beginning and ä at the end. The marker when unstressed allows the speaker to signal that they are somewhat unsure or hesitant, more so than a normal question or are maybe looking for the speaker to agree with their assertion.

Sina tegid seda kooki ä?
You made this cake?

It is kind of hard to explain this marker as you won't find any written rules in any grammar books. The best thing to do is listen for it in the speech of your Estonian friends (if you have any) and make a written or mental note of the question/ statement and the situation. If you replicate the speech of your peers you'll blend right in. Just make sure to also make a note of where they don't use it. That is also important to remember.

Comments by ainurakne:

I'm pretty sure it has evolved from 'või'(or) - at least I sometimes use 'või' that way, since 'vä' sounds so very childish.

I think it has evolved like this (I took your sentence, although I think it's not the best for this example):

'Kas sa lähed koju või mitte?' or maybe even 'Lähed (sa) koju või ei (lähe)?'
This has contracted to '(Kas sa) lähed koju või?'
And now some people use 'vä' instead of 'või': 'Lähed koju vä?'

But I haven't heard anyone use just 'ä' instead of 'vä', yet.

'Kas vajatakse autot Tallinnas?' - I think that adessive + 'on vaja' is used more often than the verb 'vajama': 'mul on vaja', 'sul on vaja', etc..., (actually allative (mulle on vaja), ablative (mult on vaja) and elative (must on vaja) forms exist also). This can be transformed to passive very easily by omitting the person(or whatever is used) and just using 'on vaja', for example: 'Kas on vaja autot Tallinnas?' or 'Kas on autot vaja Tallinnas?'

Comments by iidala:

The origin of "vä" is deffinitely "või". But you may notice one interesting thing about "vä". The more educated and grown a person is, the less accent falls on the "word" "vä". Teenage girl asking: Mina VÄÄ? puts all the accent on VÄÄÄ???? Grown up in casual conversation asking "mina vä?" almost sounds like "MINA v?" or "MINA vah?"

Aitäh ainurakne ja iidala!

English words in Estonian

This post will be continuously updated as I come across more examples.

drink

The example comes from a poster for a venue:

Tule lõunale ja dringile!
Come for lunch and a drink.

As you know, the normal translation of the English drink is jook. The word drink (gen. dringi) refers to an alcoholic beverage served at some pub, club or other venue.

visiit

This example comes from an advert in a local newsletter:

Loomaartsi koduvisiidid.
Home visits by the vet.

Loomaarst (lit. animal-doctor) is the Estonian for vet.

The Estonian visiit (gen. visiidi) refers to a visit one makes to a medical professional or a home visit a professional makes to a patient.

To express to pay someone a visit in Estonian is: külas käia

Meie käisime külas Mummi juures.
We paid Granny a visit.

inspiratsioon Tartus

Mis inspireerib Sind tegutsema?
What inspires you to take action?



Watch the above video: Fifty People, One Question, Estonia and try to understand the speech the first time round without the subtitles. Then play the video again and press on 'CC' to see how you got on. This is a very cute version of 50P, 1Q especially given that it's in Estonian.

My favourite 50P, 1Q though still has to be the one made in Galway in my homeland of Ireland. This video is so emotional and can be quite sad at times.

What is your biggest life regret?
Mis on Sinu elus kõige suurem kahetsus?
...or a little less literal: Mida sa kahetsed oma elus kõige rohkem?

Agent Nouns

In today's post we are going to look at the creation of agent nouns in Estonian, nouns such as walker, builder, teacher, actor etc. as well as nationalities and other identities built from place-names.

Oftentimes we can construct such agent nouns with the suffix -ja added to the -ma infinitive stem.

õpetama 'teach', stem õpeta- + -ja = õpetaja 'teacher'
näitlema 'act', stem näitle- + -ja = näitleja 'actor'
ehitama 'build', stem ehita- + -ja = ehitaja 'builder'
tantsima 'dance', stem tantsi- + -ja = tantsija 'dancer'
kõndima 'walk', stem kõndi- + -ja = kõndija 'walker'

There are other endings too such as -lane, -nik and -ur.

For nationalities or names for inhabitants of place-names, the root word loses its final vowel.

Soome 'Finland', soom- + -lane = soomlane 'a Finn'
Läti 'Latvia', lät- + -lane = lätlane 'a Latvian'
Rootsi 'Sweden', roots- + -lane = rootslane 'a Swede'

Tallinn 'Tallinn', tallinn- + -lane = tallinnlane 'a Tallinner'

The marked female form ends in -lanna

Eesti 'Estonia', eest- + -lane = eestlane 'an Estonian'
Eesti 'Estonia', eest- + -lanna = eestlanna 'an Estonian woman'

Beware that some countries do not follow this rule. The Poles for example.

Poola 'Poland', poola- + -kas = poolakas 'a Pole'

The plural of eestlane is eestlased and the plural of poolakas is poolakad. 

Examples using -nik are:

ajakirjanik 'journalist' from ajakiri 'journal, magazine'
kunstnik 'art' from kunst 'art'
kirjanik 'writer' from kiri 'letter'
ametnik 'officer' from amet 'office, profession'
talunik 'farmer' from talu 'farmstead'

Examples using -ur, -är, -mees are:

lendur 'aviator' from lendma 'fly'
pensionär 'pensioner' from pension 'pension'
ärimess 'businessman' from äri 'business'
põllumees 'farmer' from põllu- 'agrestic'
meremess 'sailor' from meri 'sea'

Käisin jooksmas

Täna ma käisin jõusaalis linttrenažööri kasutamas. Ma treenin Tallinna Sügispoolmaratoniks. Kuni tänaseni on minu kõige parem distants veel 13 kilomeetrit, mida ma jooksin 77 minutit. Tean küll, et need numbrid kõige paremad ei olegi, aga ma olen ju veel algaja jooksmise maailmas. Öeldakse, et harjutamine teeb meistriks, sellepärast ma käin kaks või kolm korda nädalas jooksmas. Peaksin küll, varsti, ka asfalt-teel harjutama, mitte ainult jõusaalis linttrenažööri peal.

Today I went to the gym to use the treadmill. I am training for the Tallinn autumn half-marathon. Until now my best distance is 13km which I ran in 77min. I know that it's nothing to write home about but I am still a newbie to the running world. Practice makes perfect, as they say, and so I go running two to three times a week. I should really practice on the road as well and not just on the treadmill at the gym.

Southern Estonian features

I decided to write this post to share with fellow learners some interesting points I came across whilst reading Jaan Kaplinski's children's collection of short stories Põhjatuul ja lõunatuul. The first little tale is called Siga taevatamme all (Pig under the sky-oak) which tells the tale of a pig who escapes from his pen and goes wandering in the countryside and I want to reproduce some of the lines here and discuss them a little.

As a learner of Estonian I am quite certain you very familiar with the demonstrative pronoun see and all its forms: selle, seda, sellese, ses/selles etc. However, I wonder if you have come across too. While this pronoun is perfectly acceptable in standard Estonian its usage is far less common and gives the piece a more distinctive southern Estonian feel.

The second 'southern feature' I would like to draw your attention to is the use of a double ä versus the standard ae diphthong. It's archaic Estonian and as such is not a feature of the modern standard language but, again, is quite common amongst southern Estonians speaking the state language (riigikeel). Also, in running through the few shortish sentences I will point out other features that are of general interest and not stereotypically southern.  

Misuke suur õun sääl puu otsas kasvab (Missugune suur õun seal puu otsas kasvab.)
'What a big apple grows in that tree over there'.  

Misuke is colloquial for missugune. Notice that seal is rendered as sääl, a distinctly southern form. Puu otsas means 'in a tree, up a tree.' There is an Estonian expression that incorporates this phrase: Mina olin puu otsas kui pauk käis! 'I was up the tree when the bomb went off', i.e. 'I haven't the foggist what happened/ I wasn't involved.'  

Peaks uurima, kus tolle tamme tüvi on. '
(I) must investigate where this oak's trunk is.'

Remember that the -ma form of a verb is used after peama (see here and here for a discussion). Tolle is the genitive singular of too just like selle is the genitive singular of see. The word tüvi can mean 'trunk' as in 'tree trunk' but it can also mean 'the root of a word' as in: Sõna töölt tüvi on töö 'The root of töölt "at work" is töö'.  

Siga oleks tahtnud toda tõru üles otsida, aga kust sa ikka otsid.
'The pig would have wanted to search for this acorn but where would you look?' Toda is the partitive singular form.  

Taevas ei olnud ühtegi tõru, ainult üks suur ümmargune tuline õun paistis säält [sealt].
'There wasn't any acorn in the sky at all, only one big round firey apple shining from there'. Here sealt is rendered as säält.

Peaks ikka sulgu tagasi minema: sääl ei ole küll õuna ja tõrusid ülevalt alla kukkumas...
'I must indeed return to the pen: there isn't of course any apples nor acorns falling from above'.

Here again seal is rendered as sääl. Notice the use of the inessive case marker -s at the end of the verb alla kukkuma 'to fall down' to make alla kukkumas 'in the act of falling down'. Estonian verb infinitives can take the inessive ending to state what action is currently happening.  

Lapsed on laulmas 'The children are engaged in singing'
Mul on kõik olemas 'I have everything'.

...aga kindlasti küna juba ootamas, hääd rokka ja kartuleid täis
'but for certain the trough is waiting full of good feed and potatoes.'

Here head, partitive singular (or nominative plural) of hea is rendered as hääd. For southerns it is common also to say pää rather than pea 'head' as in the town Otepää 'Bear's Head' (the symbol of the town is a bear's head).

I hope that you learned something from today's post and that the end one will come shortly (after after half a year's wait!).

Nägemiseni! Until the next time!

oapasteet

Oapasteet on üks minu lemmiktoite. See on odav ja tervislik, ja väga hea asi selle pasteedi juures on see, et ta valmib kiiresti. Ma ei söö piimast määrdeid kuna ma olen vegan. Mõnikord söön vegan margariini - taimerasvast määret, aga iga päev ma seda ei söö. Siiski ma tarvitan heameelega oapasteeti peaaegu iga päev. Täna hommikul kasutasin pasteedi tegemiseks valgeid ube, aga head pasteeti tehakse ka punastest ja pruunidest ubadest.

Pasteediks läheb vaja:

ube, sidruni (või laimi) mahla, tüümani, koriandrit, soola ja pipart. See on kõik.

Ma söön seda pasteeti täisteraleivaga (rafineeritud valgest jahust toodetes pole miskit toitvat) või toorete köögiviljadega, näiteks porgandi- või sellerikangidega. Head isu!