Estonian Basics

Introduction to Estonian

1. The basic Estonian alphabet consists of 23 letters.

a b d e g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v õ ä ö ü

2. Vowels

a is pronounced like a in 'father'

e is like e in 'send'

i is like ee in 'see'

o is like oa in 'boat'

u is like oo in 'moon'

ä is like a in 'cat'

ü is like the ü in German, or the French letter u.

ö is formed with the tongue in the position for i, but with the lips rounded and pulled forward to make a small oval opening. It resembles the German 'Öl'

õ is a sound unique to Estonian. It is made with the tongue in the same position as for the o sound, but with the with the lips unrounded slightly.

3. Vowel length

Every vowel in Estonian can have three different lengths or degrees. Ergo, too long of a vowel can change the meaning.

1st degree: sada 'hundred'

2nd degree: saada 'send!'

3rd degree: `saada 'to get'
NOTE: The accent used here for third stress is used only by students and never in written Estonian.

4. Consonants

Most Estonian consonants are similar enough to English that they can go without much explaination. Howerer, some require a mild explanation.
A. J
The Estonian "J" is always pronounced as "y" in "young", never like "dzh" in Jesus.

B. H
Like English depending on which part of an English-speaking country you are in, the letter H can either be prounced (or not) in shared words..

American English: Hand - h pronounced clearly

Cockney English: Hand - h is not pronounced at all.

The same is true with the Estonian "H". However, according to Stardard Estonian (of Tallinn and Tartu) the H as three seperate pronuncition possiblities.
Aspirated h:

Between vowels: Raha (Ra-ha)

Unaspirated h:

At the beginning of words: homme ('om-me) [Note: in many places outside mainland Estonia this "h" is never silent]
At the end of words (which are all of foreign origin) Jah (Jaa) [Note: Jaa is also an alternate spelling]

Harshly pronounced (as in the German ch or the Russian x)

Between a vowel and a consonant: tahtma (takht-ma)

C. Diphtongs
Estonian lacks any true diphtongs (or combination of letters to form a new sound.) Instead all letters are prounced normally and seperately.
The same is true for consonant pairs such as "sh", "th", etc. For these sounds Estonian has different characters not in the standard alphabet.

"sh" - s^ (upside-down caret) = as in shop

"zh" - z^ (updide-down caret) = as in pleasure

5. Stress

The stress on all words that are genuine to Estonian have the stress fall on the first syllable.

However, words that have been 'borrowed' from other countries may have stress on their original syllables. Words like these have a stress mark over the stressed syllable.

Améerika 'America'

Kompúuter 'Computer'

Proféssor 'Professor'