Võro language
Encyclopedia
The Võro language is a language belonging to the Finnic branch
of the Uralic languages
. Traditionally it has been considered a dialect of the South Estonian dialect group
of the Estonian language
, but nowadays it has its own literary language and is in search of official recognition as an autochthonous regional language
of Estonia
. Võro has about 70,000 speakers (Võros
) mostly in south-eastern Estonia, in the eight parishes of historical Võru County
: Karula, Harglõ, Urvastõ
, Rõugõ
, Kanepi
, Põlva
, Räpinä
, and Vahtsõliina
. These parishes are currently centered (due to redistricting) in Võru and Põlva
counties with parts extending into Valga
and Tartu
counties. Speakers can also be found in the towns of Tallinn
, Tartu
and the rest of Estonia.
tribal language and is the least influenced by Standard Estonian (which is based on Northern Estonian dialects). Võro was once spoken further south and east of historical Võromaa in South Estonian-speaking enclaves Lutsi, Leivu and Kraasna in what is now Latvia
and Russia
. In addition to Võro, other contemporary variants of South Estonian include the Mulgi, Tartu and Seto language
or dialect.
One of the earliest written evidences of South Estonian is a translation of the New Testament
(Wastne Testament) published in 1686. Although the status of South Estonian began to diminish after the 1880s, the language began to undergo a revival in the late 1980s.
, Ülle Kauksi, Jaan Kaplinski
, Ain Kaalep, etc.). One newspaper is printed in Võro: the fortnightly Uma Leht
(literally 'Our Own Newspaper'). 26 public schools offer weekly special (mostly extracurricular) classes in modern Võro.
Estonia's contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
was the song "Tii
", which was performed by Neiokõsõ
in Võro. The language is endangered by standard Estonian due to the government's lack of legal commitment to protect the language.
, like Estonian and Finnish.
Most letters (including ä, ö, ü, and õ) denote the same sounds as in Estonian, with a few exceptions. The letter q stands for the glottal stop
/ʔ/ and y denotes ɨ, a vowel very close to Russian
ы or Polish
y (from 2005 written õ). The acute accent
marks palatalization
of consonants (like in Polish
): ś, ń, ľ, ť, , , , and so on.
In Võro there is vowel harmony
, typical of many Uralic languages but lacking in modern standard Estonian.
All Võro consonants (except /j/ and /ʔ/) can be palatalized. The glottal stop
(q, IPA
[ʔ]) is a very common sound in Võro.
Among the Finnic languages, such double verb conjugation can be found only in the South Estonian
and Karelian
languages.
in Võro:
As comparison the same sentence in Standard Estonian:
In Finnish:
Finnic languages
The term Finnic languages often means the Baltic-Finnic languages, an undisputed branch of the Uralic languages. However, it is also commonly used to mean the Finno-Permic languages, a hypothetical intermediate branch that includes Baltic Finnic, or the more disputed Finno-Volgaic languages....
of the Uralic languages
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages constitute a language family of some three dozen languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...
. Traditionally it has been considered a dialect of the South Estonian dialect group
South Estonian language
South Estonian emerged in the 17th century as a distinct language in Swedish Livonia aside the North Estonian language spoken in Swedish Estonia.The first South Estonian grammar was compiled by Johann Gutslaff in 1648....
of the Estonian language
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
, but nowadays it has its own literary language and is in search of official recognition as an autochthonous regional language
Regional language
A regional language is a language spoken in an area of a nation state, whether it be a small area, a federal state or province, or some wider area....
of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
. Võro has about 70,000 speakers (Võros
Võros
Võros are inhabitants of historical Võrumaa , a region in Southeastern Estonia . The term is particularly used by proponents of a regional identity.About 70 000 people live in historical Võrumaa...
) mostly in south-eastern Estonia, in the eight parishes of historical Võru County
Võru County
Võrumaa or Võru maakond officially, is a county in Southern Estonia. It is bordered to the north by the Põlva County and the Lake Pihkva; to the west by Valga County; to the south by Latvia; and to the east by the Russian Federation....
: Karula, Harglõ, Urvastõ
Urvaste Parish
Urvaste Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Võru County. It has a population of 1,413 and an area of 139.62 km².There are two main tourist attractions: Tamme-Lauri oak and Pokuland.-Settlements:Villages...
, Rõugõ
Rõuge Parish
Rõuge Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Võru County. In 2006, it had a population of 2,045 and an area of 263.7 km².-Settlements:small boroughRõugeVillages...
, Kanepi
Kanepi Parish
Kanepi Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Põlva County. It has a population of 2,511 and an area of 231.43 km²...
, Põlva
Põlva Parish
Põlva Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Põlva County. It has a population of 3,882 and an area of 228.63 km².-Settlements:Villages:...
, Räpinä
Räpina Parish
Räpina Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Põlva County. It has a population of 5,533 and an area of 265.93 km².-Settlements:Town:RäpinaSmall borough:VõõpsuVillages:...
, and Vahtsõliina
Vastseliina Parish
Vastseliina Parish is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Võru County. It has a population of 2,165 and an area of 222.8 km².-Settlements:Small boroughVastseliinaVillages...
. These parishes are currently centered (due to redistricting) in Võru and Põlva
Põlva County
Põlva County , or Põlvamaa, is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in south-eastern part of the country and borders Tartu, Valga and Võru counties. The county also shares a common border with Russia...
counties with parts extending into Valga
Valga County
Valga County , or Valgamaa, is one of 15 counties of Estonia. Its capital is Valga, which is located on the Estonian-Latvian border. It is situated in southern part of the country and borders Põlva County and Võru County to the east, Latvia to the south and to the west, Viljandi County and Tartu...
and Tartu
Tartu County
Tartu County , or Tartumaa , is one of 15 counties of Estonia.It is located in eastern Estonia bordering Põlva County, Valga County, Viljandi County and Jõgeva County....
counties. Speakers can also be found in the towns of Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, Tartu
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...
and the rest of Estonia.
History
Võro is a descendant of the old South EstonianSouth Estonian language
South Estonian emerged in the 17th century as a distinct language in Swedish Livonia aside the North Estonian language spoken in Swedish Estonia.The first South Estonian grammar was compiled by Johann Gutslaff in 1648....
tribal language and is the least influenced by Standard Estonian (which is based on Northern Estonian dialects). Võro was once spoken further south and east of historical Võromaa in South Estonian-speaking enclaves Lutsi, Leivu and Kraasna in what is now Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. In addition to Võro, other contemporary variants of South Estonian include the Mulgi, Tartu and Seto language
Seto language
Seto or Setu language is a dialect of the South Estonian or Võro language , spoken by about 5,000 people...
or dialect.
One of the earliest written evidences of South Estonian is a translation of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
(Wastne Testament) published in 1686. Although the status of South Estonian began to diminish after the 1880s, the language began to undergo a revival in the late 1980s.
Present situation
The majority of Estonians perceive the Võro language as a modern synonym for South Estonian. Today, Võro is used in the works of some of Estonia's best-known playwrights, poets, and authors (Madis KõivMadis Kõiv
Madis Kõiv is an Estonian writer and physicist.-Education:Kõiv attended school in Tartu after the second World War, graduating in the early 1950s with a degree in nuclear physics. Kõiv worked as a scientist and lecturer until 1991....
, Ülle Kauksi, Jaan Kaplinski
Jaan Kaplinski
Jaan Kaplinski is an Estonian poet, philosopher, and culture critic. Kaplinski is known for his independent mind, focus on global issues and support for left-wing/liberal thinking...
, Ain Kaalep, etc.). One newspaper is printed in Võro: the fortnightly Uma Leht
Uma Leht
Uma Leht is the only newspaper in the Võro language which is spoken in Southern Estonia. The newspaper is owned by the Foundation Võro Selts VKKF and issued every fortnight....
(literally 'Our Own Newspaper'). 26 public schools offer weekly special (mostly extracurricular) classes in modern Võro.
Estonia's contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Eurovision Song Contest 2004
The Eurovision Song Contest 2004, was the 49th Contest and it was held in the Abdi İpekçi Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. This was the first occasion in which the contest was held in Turkey after they had won the competition in 2003 with Sertab Erener singing "Everyway That I Can"...
was the song "Tii
Tii
"Tii" was the entry of Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, performed by Neiokõsõ. It was composed by Priit Pajusaar and Glen Pilvre, and the lyrics, written in the Võro language, spoken in South-Eastern Estonia, were written by Aapo Ilves."Tii" was the first Estonian entry that was chosen...
", which was performed by Neiokõsõ
Neiokõsõ
Neiokõsõ is an Estonian group who represented their country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Tii" and came 12th in the Semi-Final with 57 points. The song was sung in the Võro language, spoken in South-Eastern Estonia....
in Võro. The language is endangered by standard Estonian due to the government's lack of legal commitment to protect the language.
Writing system
Võro employs the Latin alphabetLatin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
, like Estonian and Finnish.
| А /ɑ/ |
B B B is the second letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is used to represent a variety of bilabial sounds , most commonly a voiced bilabial plosive.-History:... /p/ |
C C Ĉ or ĉ is a consonant in Esperanto orthography, representing the sound .Esperanto orthography uses a diacritic for all four of its postalveolar consonants, as do the Latin-based Slavic alphabets... /t͡s/ |
D D D is the fourth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.- History :The Semitic letter Dâlet may have developed from the logogram for a fish or a door. There are various Egyptian hieroglyphs that might have inspired this. In Semitic, Ancient Greek, and Latin, the letter represented ; in the... /t/ |
E E E is the fifth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is the most commonly used letter in the Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Latin, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish languages.-History:... /e/ |
F F F is the sixth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:The origin of ⟨f⟩ is the Semitic letter vâv that represented a sound like or . Graphically, it originally probably depicted either a hook or a club... /f/ |
G G G is the seventh letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:The letter 'G' was introduced in the Old Latin period as a variant of ⟨c⟩ to distinguish voiced, from voiceless, . The recorded originator of ⟨g⟩ is freedman Spurius Carvilius Ruga, the first Roman to open a fee-paying school,... /k/ |
H H H .) is the eighth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:The Semitic letter ⟨ח⟩ most likely represented the voiceless pharyngeal fricative . The form of the letter probably stood for a fence or posts.... /h/ |
I I I is the ninth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:In Semitic, the letter may have originated in a hieroglyph for an arm that represented a voiced pharyngeal fricative in Egyptian, but was reassigned to by Semites, because their word for "arm" began with that sound... /i/ |
J J Ĵ or ĵ is a letter in Esperanto orthography representing the sound .While Esperanto orthography uses a diacritic for its four postalveolar consonants, as do the Latin-based Slavic alphabets, the base letters are Romano-Germanic... /j/ |
K K K is the eleventh letter of the English and basic modern Latin alphabet.-History and usage:In English, the letter K usually represents the voiceless velar plosive; this sound is also transcribed by in the International Phonetic Alphabet and X-SAMPA.... /kk/ |
| L L Ł or ł, described in English as L with stroke, is a letter of the Polish, Kashubian, Sorbian, Łacinka , Łatynka , Wilamowicean, Navajo, Dene Suline, Inupiaq, Zuni, Hupa, and Dogrib alphabets, several proposed alphabets for the Venetian language, and the ISO 11940 romanization of the Thai alphabet... /l/ |
M M M is the thirteenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:The letter M is derived from the Phoenician Mem, via the Greek Mu . Semitic Mem probably originally pictured water... /m/ |
N N N is the fourteenth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.- History of the forms :One of the most common hieroglyphs, snake, was used in Egyptian writing to stand for a sound like English ⟨J⟩, because the Egyptian word for "snake" was djet... /n/ |
O O O is the fifteenth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet.The letter was derived from the Semitic `Ayin , which represented a consonant, probably , the sound represented by the Arabic letter ع called `Ayn. This Semitic letter in its original form seems to have been inspired by a... /o/ |
P P P is the sixteenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.-Usage:In English and most other European languages, P is a voiceless bilabial plosive. Both initial and final Ps can be combined with many other discrete consonants in English words... /pp/ |
Q Q Q is the seventeenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.- History :The Semitic sound value of Qôp was , a sound common to Semitic languages, but not found in English or most Indo-European ones... /ʔ/ |
R R R is the eighteenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:The original Semitic letter may have been inspired by an Egyptian hieroglyph for tp, "head". It was used for by Semites because in their language, the word for "head" was rêš . It developed into Greek Ρ and Latin R... /r/ |
S S S is the nineteenth letter in the ISO basic Latin alphabet.-History: Semitic Šîn represented a voiceless postalveolar fricative . Greek did not have this sound, so the Greek sigma came to represent... /ss/ |
Š Š The grapheme Š, š is used in various contexts, usually denoting the voiceless postalveolar fricative. In the International Phonetic Alphabet this sound is denoted with , but the lowercase š is used in the Americanist phonetic notation, as well as in the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet.For use in computer... /ʃʃ/ |
T T T is the 20th letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is the most commonly used consonant and the second most common letter in the English language.- History :Taw was the last letter of the Western Semitic and Hebrew alphabets... /tt/ |
U U U is the twenty-first letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:The letter U ultimately comes from the Semitic letter Waw by way of the letter Y. See the letter Y for details.... /u/ |
| V V V is the twenty-second letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-Letter:The letter V comes from the Semitic letter Waw, as do the modern letters F, U, W, and Y. See F for details.... /v/ |
W W W is the 23rd letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.In other Germanic languages, including German, its pronunciation is similar or identical to that of English V... /v/ |
Õ Õ "Õ", or "õ" is a composition of the Latin letter O with the diacritic mark tilde.The HTML entity is Õ for Õ and õ for õ.-Estonian:... /ɤ/ |
Ä Ä "Ä" and "ä" are both characters that represent either a letter from several extended Latin alphabets, or the letter A with an umlaut mark or diaeresis.- Independent letter :... /æ/ |
Ö Ö "Ö", or "ö", is a character used in several extended Latin alphabets, or the letter O with umlaut to denote the front vowels or . In languages without umlaut, the character is also used as a "O with diaeresis" to denote a syllable break, wherein its pronunciation remains an unmodified .- O-Umlaut... /ø/ |
Ü Ü Ü, or ü, is a character which can be either a letter from several extended Latin alphabets, or the letter U with an umlaut or a diaeresis... /y/ |
X X X is the twenty-fourth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-Uses:In mathematics, x is commonly used as the name for an independent variable or unknown value. The usage of x to represent an independent or unknown variable can be traced back to the Arabic word šay شيء = “thing,” used in Arabic... /ks/ |
Y Y Y is the twenty-fifth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet and represents either a vowel or a consonant in English.-Name:In Latin, Y was named Y Graeca "Greek Y". This was pronounced as I Graeca "Greek I", since Latin speakers had trouble pronouncing , which was not a native sound... /ɨ/ |
Z Z Z is the twenty-sixth and final letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.-Name and pronunciation:In most dialects of English, the letter's name is zed , reflecting its derivation from the Greek zeta but in American English, its name is zee , deriving from a late 17th century English dialectal... /s/ |
Ž Ž The grapheme Ž is formed from Latin Z with the addition of caron . It is used in various contexts, usually denoting the voiced postalveolar fricative, a sound similar to English g in mirage, or Portuguese and French j... /ʃ/ |
' ' The ' symbol is the apostrophe punctuation mark.The ' symbol may also refer to:*Single quotation mark, ', ‘, or ’*Ejective consonant or modifier letter apostrophe, *[[ʻOkina|Okina]], *Modifier letter right half ring, ʾ... /◌ʲ/ |
Most letters (including ä, ö, ü, and õ) denote the same sounds as in Estonian, with a few exceptions. The letter q stands for the glottal stop
Glottal stop
The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
/ʔ/ and y denotes ɨ, a vowel very close to Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
ы or Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
y (from 2005 written õ). The acute accent
Acute accent
The acute accent is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts.-Apex:An early precursor of the acute accent was the apex, used in Latin inscriptions to mark long vowels.-Greek:...
marks palatalization
Palatalization
In linguistics, palatalization , also palatization, may refer to two different processes by which a sound, usually a consonant, comes to be produced with the tongue in a position in the mouth near the palate....
of consonants (like in Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
): ś, ń, ľ, ť, , , , and so on.
Vowels
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrounded | Rounded | Unrounded | Rounded | |
| Close | i | y | ɨ | u |
| Mid | e | ø | ɤ | o |
| Open | æ | ɑ | ||
In Võro there is vowel harmony
Vowel harmony
Vowel harmony is a type of long-distance assimilatory phonological process involving vowels that occurs in some languages. In languages with vowel harmony, there are constraints on which vowels may be found near each other....
, typical of many Uralic languages but lacking in modern standard Estonian.
Consonants
| Bilabial Bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:... |
Labio- dental Labiodental consonant In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lip and the upper teeth.-Labiodental consonant in IPA:The labiodental consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:... |
Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... |
Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p pʲ | t tʲ | k kʲ | ʔ | ||
| Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :... |
ts tsʲ | |||||
| Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
m mʲ | n nʲ | ŋ ŋʲ | |||
| Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
v vʲ | s sʲ | h hʲ | |||
| Approximant Approximant consonant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no... |
l lʲ | j | ||||
| Trill Trill consonant In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. Standard Spanish <rr> as in perro is an alveolar trill, while in Parisian French it is almost always uvular.... |
r rʲ |
All Võro consonants (except /j/ and /ʔ/) can be palatalized. The glottal stop
Glottal stop
The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
(q, IPA
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
[ʔ]) is a very common sound in Võro.
Differences among Võro, Estonian and Finnish
- A significant difference between standard Estonian and the Võro language is vowel harmonyVowel harmonyVowel harmony is a type of long-distance assimilatory phonological process involving vowels that occurs in some languages. In languages with vowel harmony, there are constraints on which vowels may be found near each other....
. There is no vowel harmony in the majority of North Estonian dialects and standard Estonian, but it exists in the Võro and Finnish languages; compare:
| Estonian | Võro | Finnish | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| küla | külä | kylä | village |
| küsinud | küsünüq | kysynyt | (has) asked |
| hõbedane | hõbõhõnõ | hopeinen | (made of) silver |
- Some morphological features of the Võro language are considered to be very old. For instance the 3rd person singular of the indicative mood can be either without an ending or, alternatively, with a s-ending:
| Estonian | Võro | Finnish | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| kirjutab | kirotas / kirjutub | kirjoittaa | he writes |
| annab | and | antaa | he gives |
Among the Finnic languages, such double verb conjugation can be found only in the South Estonian
South Estonian language
South Estonian emerged in the 17th century as a distinct language in Swedish Livonia aside the North Estonian language spoken in Swedish Estonia.The first South Estonian grammar was compiled by Johann Gutslaff in 1648....
and Karelian
Karelian language
Karelian language is a Finnic language spoken mainly in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Linguistically Karelian is closely related to the Finnish dialects spoken in eastern Finland and some Finnish linguists even classified Karelian as a dialect of Finnish...
languages.
- Võro has a negative particle that is appended to the end of the verb, whereas standard Estonian and Finnish have a negative verbNegative verbA negative verb is a type of auxiliary that is used to form the negative of a main verb. The main verb itself has no personal endings, while the negative verb takes the inflection...
, which precedes the verb. In Estonian and Finnish, the negative verb ei (Finnish en/et/ei/emme/ette/eivät) is used in both present and past negation, whereas in Võro the same is expressed by different particles ending with -i(q) or -s:Estonian Võro Finnish Meaning sa ei anna saq anna-aiq sinä et anna You don't give ma ei tule maq tulõ-õiq minä en tule I don't come sa ei andnud saq anna-as sinä et antanut You didn't give ma ei tulnud maq tulõ-õs minä en tullut I didn't come
- Differences in vocabulary between Estonian and the Võro language can be clearly seen in everyday speech (yet a common Estonian is able to understand most everyday Võro words, since many of them exist in Standard Estonian as dialectal synonyms for the words given or in literary language); many Võro words are closer to Finnish than to Estonian:
| Estonian | Võro | Dialectal/literary Estonian | Finnish | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| punane | verrev | verev | (punainen) | red |
| soe | lämmi | lämmi, lämbe | lämmin | warm |
| jahe | oigõ | |||
| (haalea) | cool, chilly | |||
| õde | sõsar | sõsar | sisar | sister |
| uus | vahtsõnõ | vastne | (uusi) | new |
| koer | pini | peni | (koira) | dog |
| pöial | päss | |||
| (peukalo) | thumb | |||
| pesema | mõskma | mõskma | (pestä) | to wash |
| tänavu | timahavva | |||
| (tänä vuonna) | this year | |||
| hunt | susi | susi | susi | wolf |
| mäger | kähr | |||
| (mäyrä) | badger | |||
| laupäev | puulpäiv | |||
| (lauantai) | Saturday | |||
| surema | kuulma | koolma | kuolla | to die |
| sõstar | hõrak | |||
| herukka | currant | |||
| kask | kõiv | kõiv | koivu | birch |
| nutma | ikma | itkema | itkeä | to weep |
| märkama | rõbahtama | |||
| (huomata) | to notice |
Language example
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human RightsUniversal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
in Võro:
As comparison the same sentence in Standard Estonian:
In Finnish:
Basic greetings
- Tereq! – Hello! Good day!
- (Tere) hummogust – Good morning
- (Tere) õdagust – Good evening
- Hääd üüd / hüvvä üüd – Good night
- Näemiq – See you later
- Hüvvä / hääd nägemist – Goodbye
- Rõõm nätäq – Nice to meet you
- Aiteh / Aitjumma – Thank you
- Kuis lätt – How are you / How you doing?
- Häste – I'm fine
- Olõq terveq tulõmast! – Welcome!
Important words and phrases
- jah / jaa – yes
- ei – no
- ma olõ – I am
- maq, saq, tä – I, you, he/she
- miiq, tiiq, nääq – we, you, they
- seo – this, it
- taa / tuu – that, it
- muidoki – of course
- Mul om – I have
- Sul om – You have
- Kas sul om? – do you have?
- Mul olõ-õiq – I have not
- üts, kats, kolm, neli, viis – one, two, three, four, five
- kuus, säidse, katõsa, ütesä, kümme – six, seven, eight, nine, ten
- sada, tuhat, mill'on – hundred, thousand, million
- vabandust / pallõ andis – sorry or excuse me
- vesi – water
- Eesti – Estonia
- Võromaa – Võro area
- võro kiil – Võro language
- võrokõnõ – Võro (person)
- eestläne – Estonian (person)
- saa-i arvo – I don't understand
- saa arvo – (I) understand
- Kas võro kiilt mõistat? – Do you understand Võro?
- Kas inglüse kiilt kõnõlõt? – Do you speak English?
- Ma olõ ingläne / ameeriklanõ / kanadalanõ / austraallanõ / vahtsõmeremaalanõ / iirläne / sotlanõ – I am English / American / Canadian / Australian / New Zealander / Irish / Scottish
- Kon sa elät / kon ti elät? – Where do you live?
See also
- South Estonian languageSouth Estonian languageSouth Estonian emerged in the 17th century as a distinct language in Swedish Livonia aside the North Estonian language spoken in Swedish Estonia.The first South Estonian grammar was compiled by Johann Gutslaff in 1648....
- Finnic languagesFinnic languagesThe term Finnic languages often means the Baltic-Finnic languages, an undisputed branch of the Uralic languages. However, it is also commonly used to mean the Finno-Permic languages, a hypothetical intermediate branch that includes Baltic Finnic, or the more disputed Finno-Volgaic languages....
- Võro InstituteVõro InstituteThe Võro Institute is an Estonian state research and development institution dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Võro language and culture.-History:...
- Uma LehtUma LehtUma Leht is the only newspaper in the Võro language which is spoken in Southern Estonia. The newspaper is owned by the Foundation Võro Selts VKKF and issued every fortnight....
, newspaper in the Võro language
Further reading
- Ehala, Martin & Niglas, Katrin (2007): Empirical evaluation of a mathematical model of ethnolinguistic vitality: the case of Võro. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.
- Eller, Kalle (1999): Võro-Seto language. Võro Instituut'. Võro.
- Iva, SulevSulev IvaSulev Iva, born 3 October 1969 in Võru, also known under the Võro-styled pen name of Jüvä Sullõv, is a Võro identity advocate, and a founding fellow at the Võro Institute...
; Pajusalu, Karl (2004): 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: Rezekne Augstskolas Izdevnieceba, 2004, 58 – 63. - Iva, SulevSulev IvaSulev Iva, born 3 October 1969 in Võru, also known under the Võro-styled pen name of Jüvä Sullõv, is a Võro identity advocate, and a founding fellow at the Võro Institute...
(2007): Võru kirjakeele sõnamuutmissüsteem (Inflectional Morphology in the Võro Literary Language). Dissertationes Philologiae Estonicae Universitatis Tartuensis 20, Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus (online: http://dspace.utlib.ee/dspace/bitstream/10062/4860/1/iva_sulev.pdf, English summary pp 144–146). - Jüvä, SullõvSulev IvaSulev Iva, born 3 October 1969 in Võru, also known under the Võro-styled pen name of Jüvä Sullõv, is a Võro identity advocate, and a founding fellow at the Võro Institute...
(2002): Võro-eesti synaraamat (Võro-Estonian dictionary). Publications of Võro Institute 12. Tarto-Võro. - Keem, Hella (1997): Võru keel (Võro language). Võro Instituut ja Eesti teaduste akadeemia Emakeele selts. Tallinn.
- Koreinik, Kadri (2007): The Võro language in education in Estonia. Regional dossiers series. Mercator. European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning (online: http://www1.fa.knaw.nl/mercator/regionale_dossiers/PDFs/vo%CC%83ro_in_estonia.pdf).
- Koreinik, Kadri; Pajusalu, Karl (2007): Language naming practices and linguistic identity in South-Eastern Estonia. – Language and Identity in the Finno-Ugric World. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium at the University of Groningen, May 17–19, 2006. R. Blokland and C. Hasselblatt (eds). (Studia Fenno-Ugrica Groningana 4). Maastricht: Shaker.
External links
- Võro language and alphabet at Omniglot Võro-Estonian dictionary (Võro Institute) Võro Institute Võro language newspaper "Uma Leht"
- Audio example of Võro language
- "Estonian dialects and layers" on http://www.estonica.org
- Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: vro
- Swadesh list for Finnic languages Homepage of computer programs in Võro English-Võro dictionary of computer terms
- Eurominority
- Uralic languages (Salminen 2003) Online games in Võro language Collection of cartoons in Võro