South Estonian language

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South Estonian (lõunaeesti kiil)

Spoken in

Estonia , Latvia , Russia
speaker up to 80,000
Linguistic
classification

Ural languages

Finno-Ugric languages
Finno-Permian languages
Volga Finnish languages
Finno-Sami languages
Baltic Finnish languages
  • South Estonian
Official status
Official language in -
Language codes
ISO 639 -1

-

ISO 639 -2

fiu

ISO 639-3

vro (Võro)

Language groups of the South Estonian language: Võro, Tartu, Mulgi, Seto. In addition, the former South Estonian language islands with the dialects Leivu and Lutsi in Latvia and Kraasna in Russia.

As South Estonian dialects - some researchers speak of a South-Estonian language ( lõunaeesti kiil ), Estonian lõunaeesti keel  - is called Finno-Ugric dialects in the south of present-day Estonia . It mainly includes the language varieties Võro , Tartu , Mulgi and Seto .

According to traditional linguistic opinion, South Estonian is now a dialectal variant of North Estonian , which has been regarded as standard Estonian since the end of the 19th century. According to some authors, South Estonian belongs as an independent language to the Baltic Finnish group of Uralic languages .

history

The history of the South Estonian written language begins with the translation of the New Testament ( Wastne Testament ) into South Estonian in 1686, long before there was a translation into the North Estonian language. The South Estonian language had its heyday from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Their standard language was based on the dialect of Livonian Tartu and its surroundings, the Baltic educational center of the time.

The gradual decline of South Estonian began only with the first complete translation of the Bible into the North Estonian language in 1739. An additional blow had previously been the Tartus fire and the complete deportation of the local population by Russian troops in 1708. In 1806 the first Estonian newspaper, Tarto-ma rahwa Näddali leht , appeared in the South Estonian language. Around 1880, the influence of South Estonian almost completely decreased. However, Johann Hurt published the most important reading book in Võro ​​in Tartu in 1885, the Wastne Wõro keeli ABD raamat (“New ABC Book of the Võro ​​Language”).

The Estonian national movement finally demanded that there should only be one Estonian language. The North Estonian with the capital Tallinn as the political and economic center finally prevailed. At the end of the 19th century, southern Estonia was completely marginalized. With the proclamation of the Republic of Estonia in 1918, it practically disappeared and became a dialect and pure colloquial language .

South Estonian today

The South Estonian language has been experiencing a renaissance since the 1980s. Today it is being promoted again. Võro in particular is gaining strength as it is spread in the regional media and in schools. The attempts to establish Võro ​​as the South Estonian standard language are supported by the Estonian state. It is also taught at the University of Tartu .

The state-run Võru Instituut , established in 1995 and based in Võru, is dedicated to scientific research into the language and publishes a Võro ​​– Estonian dictionary. It is subordinate to the Estonian Ministry of Culture. With the program “South Estonian Language and Culture” ( Lõunaeesti keel ja kultuur ), the Estonian state supports the strengthening of the language and culture of South Estonia, especially on the basis of Võro; Tartu and Mulgi, on the other hand, have almost died out as a written language. Seto has as an identity element of the people of setos still some meaning.

Important writers who also write in South Estonian are the poets Mats Traat and Nikolai Baturin (both born in 1936). At the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul , the Estonian girls band Neiokõsõ competed for their country with a song in the South Estonian language.

South Estonian peculiarities

South Estonian differs from standard Estonian in its pronunciation, word order, syntax and vocabulary.

Some differences from standard Estonian are:

  • In standard Estonian, the 3rd person singular always has -b as the ending. In South Estonian it can be formed in two ways: either with the ending -s or endless. The double conjugation can only be found in Seto and Karelian except in Võro .
  • Vowel harmony , which does not exist in standard Estonian, is characteristic of South Estonian. “Village” therefore means küla in standard Estonian and külä in South Estonian .
  • In the case of negative, the negative particle always comes before the verb in standard Estonian, and usually after it in South Estonian.
  • The nominative -plural is formed in standard Estonian by adding a -d, in South Estonian however by a glottal closure , which is indicated by the letter -q. The glottal closure makes the South Estonian more "jerky" compared to the more uniform North Estonian.

Language examples

Our Father ( Meie Esä ) in the old written language of South Estonia (Tartu)

Meie Esä taiwan: pühendetüs saagu sino nimi. Sino riik tulgu. Sino tahtmine sündigu kui taiwan, niida ka maa pääl. Meie päiwälikku leibä anna meile taämbä. Nink anna meile andis meie süü, niida kui ka meie andis anname omile süidläisile. Nink ärä saada avoid middle kiusatuse sisse; close pästä meid ärä kurjast: Sest sino perält om riik, nink wägi, nink awwustus igäwätses ajas. Aamen.

Our Father ( Mi Esä ) in the modern South Estonian written language (Võro)

Mi Esä taivan: pühendüs saaguq sino nimi. Sino riik tulguq. Sino tahtminõ sündkuq, ku taivan, nii ka maa pääl. Mi päävälikku leibä annaq meile taämbä. Nink annaq meile andis mi süüq, nii ku ka mi andis anna umilõ süüdläisile. Ni saatku-i meid joht kiusatusõ sisse, a pästäq meid ärq kur'ast, selle et sino perält om riik ja vägi ni avvustus igävädses aos. Aamõn.

Our Father ( Meie isa ) in standard modern Estonian

Meie isa, kes Sa oled taevas: pühitsetud olgu Sinu nimi. Sinu riik tulgu. Sinu tahtmine sündigu, nagu taevas nõnda ka maa peal. Meie igapäevast leiba anna meile tänapäev. Yes anna meile andeks meie võlad nagu meiegi andeks anname oma võlglastele. Yes era saada meid kiusatusse, vaid päästa meid era kurjast. Sest Sinu päralt on riik ja vägi ja au igavesti. Aamen.

literature

  • Kalle Eller: Võro-Seto language. Võru 1999
  • Sulev Iva, Karl Pajusalu: "The Võro ​​Language: Historical Development and Present Situation." In: Language Policy and Sociolinguistics I: "Regional Languages ​​in the New Europe" International Scientific Conference; Rēzeknes Augstskola, Latvija; 20-23 May 2004. Rezekne, 2004, pp. 58-63
  • Kadri Koreinik: Public Discourse of (De) legitimation: The Case of South Estonian Language . In: Journal of Baltic Studies . tape 42 , no. 2 , May 20, 2011, p. 239-261 , doi : 10.1080 / 01629778.2011.569071 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. after Urmas Sutrop: The Estonian language. German by Carsten Wilms. Tallinn: Eesti Instituut 2005, p. 12f. ( ISBN 9985-9341-9-9 )