Estonian language facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Estonian
eesti keel
Native to	Estonia
Ethnicity	Estonians
Native speakers	1.1 million  (2012)e18
Language family	Uralic Finnic Estonian
Writing system	Latin (Estonian alphabet) Estonian Braille
Official status
Official language in	Estonia  European Union
Regulated by	Institute of the Estonian Language / Eesti Keele Instituut, Emakeele Selts (semi-official)
Linguasphere	41-AAA-d
Distribution of estonian language
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The Estonian language (called eesti keel by Estonians) is a unique language spoken mostly in Estonia. It belongs to the Uralic languages family, which is different from most other languages in Europe. You might find it interesting that Estonian is quite similar to Finnish! Unlike many European languages, Estonian is not an Indo-European language.

The Estonian alphabet uses the familiar Latin alphabet, just like English. But it has some special vowels you might not know, like Ö, Ä, Õ, and Ü.

Over time, Estonian has borrowed many words from languages like German and Swedish. It also has different ways of speaking, called dialects, depending on where you are in Estonia.

Learn Some Estonian Words

Here are a few common words in Estonian to help you get started:

Images for kids

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  Estonian grammar book published in 1637 by Heinrich Stahl.

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  An 1885 ABC-book in Võro written by Johann Hurt.

See also

In Spanish: Idioma estonio para niños