Estonian alphabet

The Estonian alphabet is used for writing the Estonian language and is based on the Latin alphabet, with German influence. As such, the Estonian alphabet has the letters A-umlaut (Ä), O-umlaut (Ö) and U-umlaut (Ü), which stand for the vowels IPA| [æ] , IPA| [ø] and IPA| [y] , respectively. Unlike the German umlauts, they are considered to be separate letters and part of the alphabet, and are alphabetized as separate letters. The most distinguishing letter in the Estonian alphabet, however, is O-tilde or Õ, which was added to the alphabet in the 19th century by Otto Wilhelm Masing and stands for the vowel IPA| [ɤ] . In addition, the alphabet also differs from the Latin alphabet by the addition of the letters S-caron (Š) and Z-caron (Ž), and by the position of Z in the alphabet: it has been moved from the end to between S and T (or Š and Ž).

In Blackletter W was used instead of V.

Johannes Aavik insisted that the letter Ü be replaced by Y, as it has been in the Finnish Alphabet.

In the internet age, many Estonian texts ignore Š and Ž letters and use sh and zh instead.

The full alphabet consists of the following 32 letters:

A, B, "C", D, E, "F", G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, "Q", R, S, "Š", "Z", "Ž", T, U, V, "W", Õ, Ä, Ö, Ü, "X", "Y"

The oblique letters are so-called "foreign letters" ("võõrtähed")."F", "Š", "Z" and "Ž" occur only in loanwords and foreign proper names."C", "Q", "W", "X" and "Y" do not occur in Estonian words, but are used in writing foreign proper names.

The alphabet is sometimes written and recited without the "foreign letters". In that case, it has 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

Recitation

See also

* Finnish alphabet
* Swedish alphabet

External links

* [http://www.einst.ee/publications/language/alphabet.html Alphabet, Orthography, Pronunciation]
* [http://www.eki.ee/keel/et003.html The Estonian alphabet]
* [http://euro.typo.cz/ Typo.cz Information on Central European typography and typesetting]