Miina Norvik, associate professor of Finnic languages and linguistic typology at the University of Tartu, said that the identification of the relationship between Finno-Ugric and Uralic languages began as early as the 18th century. Since then, linguists have continuously studied how these languages are related and how they have branched out over time.

The history of the Estonian language — as well as that of Finnish, for example — has long been an important field of study for linguists at universities. According to Norvik, while there is already a fairly good understanding of the development of Estonian, there is still much more to explore. In recent years, other scientific disciplines have also made significant contributions to this research. Interdisciplinary collaboration has helped refine, expand or reassess earlier interpretations, leading to a broader understanding over time.

Whereas it was once believed that Estonian is around 8,000 years old, it has since become clear that this is not the case. It is now thought that Estonian began to diverge from other Finno-Ugric languages about 2,000 years ago. Archaeologists played a key role in reaching this conclusion. "It used to be assumed that our linguistic ancestors arrived here during the time of the Comb Ceramic Culture, but that turns out to be too early. This is where language and archaeology intersect, and archaeology has provided us with new insights," Norvik explained.

Another field that has contributed new knowledge is genetics. "When we talk about the arrival of Finnic languages on the shores of the Baltic Sea, genetic studies have shown that Estonians carry a so-called Siberian component, which has also been observed in other Finno-Ugric peoples," she said. Taken together, archaeology and genetics have offered a wealth of new information, helping to clarify the development and history of the Estonian language.

According to current understanding, South Estonian was the first to branch off from the unity of the Proto-Finnic language around 2,000 years ago. Although South Estonian diverged early, North and South Estonian have since reestablished contact within the same state and have influenced each other.

Looking at other linguistic splits, Livonian separated after South Estonian, followed by the divergence of North Estonian and Votic. North Estonian branched off approximately 1,500 years ago. "So, if the question is how old the Estonian language is, a rough estimate would be between 1,500 and 2,000 years. That said, the languages spoken during that period were still tribal tongues — not modern Estonian," Norvik explained.

Viability of Estonian

Overall, the Estonian language is doing very well and remains vibrant, according to Miina Norvik. There are around 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, and by number of speakers, Estonian ranks among the top 5 percent — an impressive figure, she said. Norvik pointed out that, on average, a language has only about 10,000 speakers globally. Another indicator of a language's vitality is its use beyond the home. "In other words, Estonian is the official language used in government and educational institutions," the associate professor explained.

While Estonian shows strong signs of vitality across several measures, Norvik said this does not mean efforts can ease up. "There's always the ongoing question of how to keep Estonian alive as a language of science, how to ensure people still know idioms and proverbs and how to help them express themselves in the language. It takes continued work — but broadly speaking, Estonian is doing well," she said.

Is Estonian special?

Norvik noted that people often give little thought to just how remarkable it is that higher education in Estonia can be pursued in Estonian. "In a global context, that's a major achievement, because higher education is available in only about a hundred languages," she said.

It's often said that Estonian is unique because it has 14 grammatical cases. But in fact, this isn't something that makes the language particularly stand out internationally. According to Norvik, Estonian doesn't have one single feature that makes it truly exceptional as a language. Some languages, for instance, have 18 cases, and some Caucasian languages have even more.

People also sometimes point out that Estonian lacks grammatical gender, unlike English or Russian. But Norvik said this too is fairly common — globally, it's not unusual for a language to have no gender categories at all.

Even the letter "õ," often seen as distinctive, is not unique. It appears in some South American languages as well, though it's pronounced somewhat differently there.

"I would say what really makes us unique is when we start combining various features: a language with 14 cases, the vowel 'õ,' no grammatical gender — and as you go down the list, it becomes a special language. But to single out one feature and proudly claim no one else has it — that's not quite accurate," Norvik said.

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