History of the Estonian Language
This Finno-Ugric language differs from the other Baltic languages
Estonian language is spoken by few people internationally and does not share Lithuanian's and Latvian's Indo-European roots.
The Estonian language is drastically different from the other two Baltic languages, Latvian and Lithuanian. Instead of being born from Indo-European roots, the Estonian language is one of the Finno-Ugric languages (a classification shared with Finnish and Hungarian).
While the earliest text in the Estonian language dates from the 16th century, there is even earlier evidence that Estonian was used before the 13th century - Latin and Danish records cite Estonian geographical names, many of which are still being used today.
The Estonians begin to establish grammar rules and other standards for their language in the 1600s and even compiled dictionaries at this time. Further standardization occurred in the 19th century, when Estonian language began to be used for technical manuscripts and literary compositions. As progress required, Estonian became more sophisticated and modern language during the subsequent years.
Estonian language uses the Latin alphabet, and has been influenced by other languages, particularly German. Estonian has been a point of national pride in Estonia for years, especially during Soviet occupation. Estonian is the single official language of Estonia and is not widely spoken outside of the country.
Estonians also love visual representations of riddles. While their Droodles can be enjoyed by those who speak any language, these hand-drawn riddles have developed along with Estonian language.
