Back Estoniu meridional AST Паўднёваэстонская мова Byelorussian Паўднёваэстонская мова BE-X-OLD Южноестонски език Bulgarian Estonià meridional Catalan Къилба-эстонхойн мотт CE Südestnische Sprache German Νότια Εσθονική γλώσσα Greek Sudestona lingvo Esperanto Estonio meridional Spanish
| South Estonian | |
|---|---|
| Võro-Seto | |
| Geographic distribution | Baltic States |
Native speakers | 130,000 in Estonia (2021)[1] |
| Linguistic classification | Uralic
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | vro |
| Glottolog | sout2679 |
| ELP | Võro |
 The historical South Estonian (Võro, Seto, Mulgi and Tartu) language area with historical South Estonian language enclaves (Lutsi, Leivu and Kraasna) | |
 South Estonian is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010) | |
South Estonian, or Võro-Seto, is a Finnic language spoken in south-eastern Estonia, encompassing the Tartu, Mulgi, Võro and Seto dialects. Diachronically speaking, Estonian and South Estonian are in separate branches of the Finnic languages, with Estonian being more closely related to Finnish than it is to South Estonian.[2][3]
Modern Standard Estonian has evolved on the basis of the dialects of Northern Estonian. However, from the 17th to the 19th centuries in Southern Estonia, literature was published in a standardized form of Southern Tartu and Northern Võro. That usage was called Tartu or literary South Estonian.[4] The written standard was used in the schools, churches and courts of the Võro and Tartu linguistic area but not in the Seto and Mulgi areas.
After Estonia gained independence in 1918, the standardized Estonian language policies were implemented further throughout the country. The government officials during the era believed that the Estonian state needed to have one standard language for all of its citizens, which led to the exclusion of South Estonian in education. The ban on the instruction and the use of South Estonian dialects in schools continued during the Soviet occupation (1940–1990).[5]
Since Estonia regained independence in 1991, the Estonian government has become more supportive of the protection and development of South Estonian.[5] A modernized literary form founded on the Võro dialect of South Estonian has been sanctioned.[6][7]
- ^ "Rahva ja eluruumide loendus 2021 – eesti emakeelega rahvastik murdekeele oskuse, vanuserühma, soo ja elukoha (haldusüksus) järgi, 31. detsember 2021" [Population with Estonian as their mother tongue by ability to speak a dialect, age group, sex, and place of residence (administrative unit), 31 december 2021, December 31, 2021] (in Estonian).
- ^ Sammallahti, Pekka (1977), "Suomalaisten esihistorian kysymyksiä" (PDF), Virittäjä: 119–136
- ^ Kallio, Petri (2007). "Kantasuomen konsonanttihistoriaa" (PDF). Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne (in Finnish). 253: 229–250. ISSN 0355-0230. Retrieved 2009-05-28. Note that reconstructed *č and *c stand for affricates [t͡ʃ], [t͡s].
- ^ South Estonian literary language @google scholar
- ^ a b Sutton, Margaret (2004). Civil Society Or Shadow State?. IAP. pp. 116, 117. ISBN 978-1-59311-201-1.
- ^ Rannut, Mart (2004). "Language Policy in Estonia" (PDF). Noves SL. Revista de Sociolingüística. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-03. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ estonica. "Language, Dialects and layers". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-27.