South Estonian language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

South Estonian lõunaeesti kiil
Spoken in:	Estonia, Russia, Latvia
Region:	Baltic States
Total speakers:	80,000
Language family:	Uralic  Finno-Ugric   Baltic-Finnic    South Estonian
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	fiu
ISO 639-3:	est — Estonian
South Estonian (Võro, Seto, Mulgi, Tartu) language area with South Estonian language enclaves (Lutsi, Leivu and Kraasna)
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

South Estonian is a language or a language or dialect group spoken in Southern Estonia (Võru, Põlva, Valga, Tartu, Viljandi counties) and to a lesser extent in Pskov region of Russia (Setomaa). In Estonian traditional dialectology the South Estonian varieties have been considered dialects of Southern Estonian dialect group of Estonian language. Since the late 1980s a regionalist movement supported by many linguists has promoted the view that South Estonian (including Võro(-Seto)), is a separate language belonging to the Baltic-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. The term South Estonian is mostly used as an umbrella notion for all South Estonian regional languages or varieties (Võro, Seto, Mulgi and Tartu).

[edit] History

Modern standard Estonian has evolved on the basis of the dialects of Northern Estonia. However, in the 17th to 19th century in Southern Estonia literature was published in a standardized form of Southern Tartu and Northern Võro. This usage was called Tartu literary language or also South Estonian literary language. One of the earliest written evidences of South Estonian was a translation of the New Testament (Wastne Testament) published in 1686.

Language example of old literary (Tartu) South Estonian

Meie Esä (Lord's Prayer): Meie Esä taiwan: pühendetüs saagu sino nimi. Sino riik tulgu. Sino tahtmine sündigu kui taiwan, niida ka maa pääl. Meie päiwälikku leibä anna meile täämbä. Nink anna meile andis meie süü, niida kui ka meie andis anname omile süidläisile. Nink ärä saada meid mitte kiusatuse sisse; enge pästä meid ärä kurjast: Sest sino perält om riik, nink wägi, nink awwustus igäwätses ajas. Aamen.

The status of South Estonian began to diminish after the 1880s. Under the influence of the European liberal oriented nationalist movement it was decided that there must be one Estonian language. The beginning of the 20th century was the period for the rapid development of the Northern-based Estonian literary language.

[edit] Present situation

The South Estonian language began to undergo a revival in the late 1980s. Today, South Estonian is used in the works of some of Estonia's most well known playwrights, poets, and authors. Most success has been achieved in promoting Võro language and a new literary standard based on Võro.

Language example of the modern literary (Võro) South Estonian

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Kõik inemiseq sünnüseq avvo ja õiguisi poolõst ütesugumaidsis. Näile om annõt mudsu ja süämetunnistus ja nä piät ütstõõsõga vele muudu läbi käümä.

[edit] See also

• Võro language
• Seto language
• Baltic-Finnic languages
• Centre for South Estonian Language and Cultural Studies

[edit] External links

• Uralic languages (Salminen 2003)
• Võro Institute