It has been said that Estonian is not the easiest language of the European languages to master. But this should not put you off giving it a go, especially if you are planning to visit the country. Estonian is a strange language because it is a Finno-Ugric language and bears minimal relation to the languages of the countries surrounding it like Russia, Estonia, Sweden, and Latvia, and is more closely linked to Hungarian and Finnish. Spoken by around a million people for whom it is their native language, it is incredibly beautiful and full of cool and beautiful Estonian words.
The Estonian language has no genders and no future tense. It does however have some of the loveliest-sounding words of any language and in this blog, we will explore a handful of the most magical-sounding cool Estonian words.
Tongue Twisters
Let’s kick off with some tongue twisters. If you can get the hang of a few of these then learning all the other stuff you need to speak Estonian like a native should be a breeze.
Kummikutes kummitus kummitas kummutis
This well-known tongue twister, like many of the best tongue twisters, makes absolutely no sense to a native English speaker because it translates as “A ghost with rainboots haunted the chest of drawers.”
Kirstuvõti
Although not strictly a tongue twister, what is cool about the Estonian word kirstuvõti, or key to the coffin, is that it has the letters r, s, t, u, v, õ in alphabetical order.
Endless Vowels
Kuu-uurijad töö-ööl jää-äärel
Packed with double vowels, this is another phrase that sounds wonderful in Estonian and also rather evocative in translation. So, let’s break it down. starting with öö, which means night we add töö to create öötöö, which translates as night job. A quick switch around and we get töö-öö meaning work night. Jää-äär is another vowel-laden word meaning edge of the ice and kuu-uurija means moon explorer. Put together we get the rather marvellous sentence Kuu-uurijad töö-ööl jää-äärel, or moon explorers at work on the edge of the ice during the night.
kuulilennuteetunneliluuk
Another of the coolest words in the Estonian language is kuulilennuteetunneliluuk. Again, it is composed of a bunch of words that when put together make little sense – the hatch a bullet flies out of when exiting a tunnel. Eagle-eyed readers may have realized that it is not the definition of the word that is cool, or even that it is an impressive 24 characters in length, but the fact that it is a palindrome so can be read front to back or back to front.
Aoäiaõeuueoaõieaiaõueauaööau
Back to the endless vowels with another nonsensical but undeniably great word – Aoäiaõeuueoaõieaiaõueauaööau. This tricky-to-pronounce word translates as the rather delicious the night honour of a lullaby-languaged dog in the yard of new bean flowers belonging to the sister of my sunrisy father-in-law.
Vanapaganatagavara
Vanapaganatagavara has more long vowels in it than any single word deserves. The fact that they are all the letter a and follow every consonant is why the Devil’s stockpile makes our list of the coolest Estonian words.
Estonia’s Most Beautiful Long Words
Not all Estonian words get lost in clumsy translations. Some are as beautiful as the things they describe.
Jõululaululaulja
Often recognized as the most beautiful Estonian word, jõululaululaulja means carol singer. And who doesn’t love a good Christmas carol?
Sünnipäeva nädalalõpupeo pärastlõunaväsimus
This most evocative of Estonian phrases translates as the tiredness one feels on the afternoon of the weekend birthday party. As well as being 42 letters long it is a wonderful example of just how specific the Estonian language can be.
Shorter Cool Estonian Words
Some shorter words deserve special mention in a blog about the coolest and quirkiest words in Estonian.
Mürakaru
Mürakaru is a lovely word used when referring to someone known for their mischievous behavior. In Estonia, a prankster is a mürakaru or a mischief bear.
Nipet-Näpet
Nipet-näpet is an extremely cute word that is gorgeous to pronounce and in English would be something like odds and ends or bits and pieces.
Tohuvabohu
Like the English translation hubbub, tohuvabohu is a slightly onomatopoeic word that perfectly describes a disorderly, chaotic situation.
Not What They Seem
Now let’s take a look at a couple of words that at first glance would appear to be a piece of cake to translate.
Hell Hunt
Hell hunt sounds like a terrible situation to find oneself in but actually translates as the far more pleasant gentle wolf.
Pure Mind
Unlike the above, at first glance pure mind looks like it should refer to someone who is particularly virtuous of thinking. However, the translation is slightly more insidious and means bite me in a rather violent and unpleasant fashion.
Practice Your Estonian With The Ling App
Explore the unique and interesting vocabulary of Estonia with our blog and app!
If this brief look at some of the coolest and quirkiest, best and basic, words in the Estonian language has given you a taste to learn Estonian, you might like to check out the Ling app. Ling is a language-learning tool that will help you on your journey to becoming fluent in the language of your choice.
As well as course lessons, Ling offers fun alternatives to simply learning by rote such as games and quizzes. Ling App is available to download to your mobile device now at App Store and Google Play.
