Estonian
Eesti
Estonian is Finnish's close cousin, though that does not make them mutually intelligible. It lost the final vowels Finnish keeps, which makes its words distinctly shorter. Its letter õ does not exist in Finnish. It distinguishes three degrees of length for vowels and consonants, a refinement rare among the world's languages.
- Family
- Finno-Ugric
- Script
- Latin
- Speakers
- ≈ 1.1 million
- Where
- Estonia
- In the game
- Mid-range language
How to spot it
A cousin of Finnish, but with the letter õ and shorter words — the final vowels have dropped away.
A few sentences
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Ma sõidan igal hommikul rongiga tööle.
Every morning I take the train to work.
-
Suvel käime mere ääres puhkamas.
In summer we go to the seaside to rest.
-
Unustasin prillid kontorisse.
I left my glasses at the office.
-
Supp on liiga kuum.
The soup is too hot.
-
Raamatukogu on täna kinni.
The library is closed today.