Editing Estonian language (section)

==History==
The speakers of the two major historical languages spoken in Estonia, North and [[South Estonian]], are thought by some linguists to have arrived in Estonia in at least two different migration waves over two millennia ago, both groups having spoken considerably different vernacular.<ref name="Rannut" /> Some linguists have classified South Estonian as another, separate Finnic language, rather than a variety of Estonian. Modern standard Estonian evolved in the 18th and 19th centuries based on the dialects of northern Estonia.

During the Medieval and Early Modern periods, Estonian accepted many loanwords from [[Germanic languages]], mainly from [[Middle Low German]] (Middle Saxon) and, after the 16th-century Protestant [[Reformation]], from the [[Standard German]] language. 

[[File:EstonianGrammar1637.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|''[[Estonian grammar|Estonian Grammar]]'' by [[Heinrich Stahl]], published in [[Tallinn]] (Reval) in 1637]]
[[File:Perno Postimees, Nr 1.png|thumb|In 1857, the first Estonian weekly newspaper ''[[Pärnu Postimees|Perno Postimees]]'' welcomed readers with ''"Terre, armas Eesti rahwas!"'' ("Hello, dear Estonian people!")]]
[[File:Russa literacy 1897.jpg|thumb|According to the [[1897 census]] 96.1% of the native Estonian-speaking population (age 10 and older, roughly equally for males and females) was [[literate]].]]
[[File:Estonian language in the Russian Empire (1897).svg|thumb|Geographic distribution of Estonian in the Russian Empire according to the [[1897 census]]]]

Oldest written records of Estonian language date from the 13th century. The "Originates Livoniae" in the ''[[Livonian Chronicle of Henry]]'' contains Estonian place names, words and fragments of sentences.

===Estonian literature===
{{main article|Estonian literature}}
The earliest extant samples of connected (north) Estonian have been found in the [[Kullamaa Manuscript]] ("Kullamaa prayers") dating from 1524 and 1528.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kurman |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=owQBH74N8CIC |title=The Development of Written Estonian |date=1997 |publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |location=London |isbn=9780700708901}}</ref> In 1525, the first Estonian language book was printed. It contained a religious [[Lutheran]] text which, however, never reached its intended readers, as it was immediately censored and all printed copies were destroyed.

The first extant Estonian book is a bilingual German-Estonian translation of the [[Luther's Large Catechism|Lutheran catechism]] by S.{{nbsp}}Wanradt and J.{{nbsp}}Koell dating to 1535, during the [[Protestant Reformation]] period. An Estonian grammar book to be used by priests was printed in German in 1637.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dalby |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CnckpL8auSIC |title=Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages |date=2004 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=0-231-11569-5 |edition=rev. |location=New York |page=182}}</ref> The [[New Testament]] was translated into the variety of South Estonian called [[Võro language|Võro]] in 1686 (northern Estonian, 1715). The two languages were united based on Northern Estonian by [[Anton thor Helle]].

Writings in Estonian became more significant in the 19th century during the [[Estophilia#Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840)|Estophile Enlightenment Period]] (1750–1840).

The birth of native Estonian literature was during the period 1810–1820, when the patriotic and philosophical poems by [[Kristjan Jaak Peterson]] were published. Peterson, who was the first student to acknowledge his Estonian origin at the then German-language [[University of Tartu|University of Dorpat]], is commonly regarded as a herald of [[Estonian literature|Estonian national literature]] and considered the founder of modern Estonian poetry. His birthday, March 14, is celebrated in [[Estonia]] as [[First language|Mother Tongue]] Day.<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Connor |first=Kevin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IpR0-OrrwssC&pg=PA126 |title=Culture and Customs of the Baltic States |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=0-313-33125-1 |location=Westport, CT |page=126}}</ref> A fragment from Peterson's poem "Kuu" expresses the claim reestablishing the birthright of the Estonian language:

:''Kas siis selle maa keel''
:''Laulutuules ei või''
:''Taevani tõustes üles''
:''Igavikku omale otsida?''

In English:
:''Can the language of this land''
:''In the wind of incantation''
:''Rising up to the heavens''
:''Not seek for eternity?''
:::''Kristjan Jaak Peterson''
	
In the period from 1525 to 1917, 14,503 titles were published in Estonian; by comparison, between 1918 and 1940, 23,868 titles were published.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Translation into Estonian – Ivextrans |url=https://www.ivextrans.eu/translated-languages/translation-into-estonian/ |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=www.ivextrans.eu}}</ref>

In modern times [[A. H. Tammsaare]], [[Jaan Kross]],<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=20&btnG=Google+Search&&as_auth=Jaan+Kross Jaan Kross] at Google Books</ref> and [[Andrus Kivirähk]]<!--[[Jaan Kaplinski]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=20&btnG=Google+Search&&as_auth=Jaan+Kaplinski Jaan Kaplinski] at Google Books</ref> and [[Viivi Luik]]--> are [[Estonia]]'s best-known and most translated writers.

Estonians lead the world in book ownership, owning on average 218 books per house, and 35% of Estonians owning 350 books or more (as of 2018).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zhou |first=Naaman |date=2018-10-12 |title=Novel news: world's biggest bookworms revealed in study |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/12/the-more-books-in-a-house-the-brighter-your-childs-future-study-finds |access-date=2024-09-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} </ref> 

===Official language===
Writings in Estonian became significant only in the 19th century with the spread of the ideas of the [[Age of Enlightenment]], during the [[Estophilia#Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840)|Estophile Enlightenment Period]] (1750–1840). Although [[Baltic Germans]] at large regarded the future of Estonians as being a fusion with themselves, the Estophile educated class admired the ancient culture of the Estonians and their era of freedom before the conquests by Danes and Germans in the 13th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jansen |first=Ea |title=Estonia: Identity and Independence |date=2004 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=90-420-0890-3 |editor-last=Subrenat |editor-first=Jean-Jacques |page=84 |translator-last=Cousins |translator-first=David |chapter=The National Awakening of the Estonian Nation |translator-last2=Dickens |translator-first2=Eric |translator-last3=Harding |translator-first3=Alexander |translator-last4=Waterhouse |translator-first4=Richard C. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kBZlHdp7tdcC&pg=PA84}}</ref>

When the [[Republic of Estonia]] was established in 1918, Estonian became the [[official language]] of the newly independent country. Immediately after [[World War II]], in 1945, over 97% of the then population of Estonia self-identified as native ethnic Estonians<ref name="Rannut">{{cite journal |last=Rannut |first=Mart |date=2004 |title=Language Policy in Estonia |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=996236 |journal=Noves SL.: Revista de sociolingüística |issue=1–2 (primavera – estiu) |page=4 |language=es}}</ref> and spoke the language.

When Estonia was invaded and reoccupied by the Soviet army in 1944, the status of Estonian effectively changed to one of the two official languages (Russian being the other one).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Colin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YgtSqB9oqDIC&pg=PA207 |title=Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education |last2=Jones |first2=Sylvia Prys |date=1998 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=1-85359-362-1 |location=Clevedon |page=207}}</ref> Many immigrants from Russia entered Estonia under Soviet encouragement.<ref name="Rannut" /> In the 1970s, the pressure of bilingualism for Estonians was intensified<!--, resulting in the rapid spread of knowledge of Russian among the country's population. The Russian language was termed as "the language of friendship of nations" and was taught to Estonian children, sometimes as early as in kindergarten-->. Although teaching Estonian to non-Estonians in local schools was formally compulsory, in practice, the teaching and learning of Estonian by Russian-speakers was often considered unnecessary by the Soviet authorities.<ref name="Rannut" />
In 1991, with the restoration of Estonia's [[History of Estonia#Regaining independence|independence]], Estonian went back to being the only official language in Estonia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leclerc |first=Jacques |title=Estonie |url=http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/estonie.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111175346/http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/estonie.htm |archive-date=2012-11-11 |access-date=2014-08-23 |website=L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde |language=fr}}</ref> Since 2004, when Estonia joined the European Union, Estonian is also one of the (now 24) [[languages of the European Union|official languages of the EU]].

The return of former Soviet immigrants to their countries of origin at the end of the 20th century has brought the proportion of native Estonian-speakers in Estonia now back above 70%. Large parts of the first- and second-generation immigrants in Estonia have now adopted Estonian (over 50% as of the 2022 census).<ref name="Rannut" />