Although Estonian
orthography is generally guided by phonemic principles, with each
grapheme corresponding to one
phoneme, there are some historical and morphological deviations from this: for example the initial letter
h in words, preservation of the morpheme in
declension of the word (writing
b,
g,
d in places where
p,
k,
t is pronounced) and in the use of
i and
j. Where it is impractical or impossible to type
š and
ž, they are substituted with
sh and
zh in some written texts, although this is considered incorrect. Otherwise, the
h in
sh represents a
voiceless glottal fricative, as in (
pas-ha); this also applies to some foreign names. Some features of the modern Estonian orthography are: • Word-initial
b, d, g occur only in loanwords and are normally pronounced as , , . Some old loanwords are spelled with
p, t, k instead of etymological
b, d, g: 'bank'. Word-medially and word-finally,
b, d, g represent short plosives (may be pronounced as partially voiced consonants),
p, t, k represent half-long plosives , and
pp, tt, kk represent overlong plosives ; for example: 'hoof' — 'wardrobe' [ ] — 'wardrobe [ ]'. • Before and after
b, p, d, t, g, k, s, h, f, š, z, ž, the sounds , , are written as
p, t, k, with some exceptions due to morphology or etymology. For example, the suffixed particle
-gi 'too, also' may become
-ki, but does not alter the spelling of the stem, so 'desert' +
-gi becomes . • Word-initial is often dropped in spontaneous speech, but should be represented in writing. • The letter
j is used at the beginning of syllables, but
i is used at the end of syllables. Double
j is used only in some
illative case forms. The spelling
üü before vowels corresponds to the pronunciation : 'to sell' (
-da infinitive of 'to sell'). The spelling
üi is used only in the loanwords , , . Between
i and vowels, the epenthetic sound is pronounced but not written. It is, however, written in the suffix
-ja. • Vowels and the consonants
h, j, l, m, n, r, s, v are written single when they are short, double when they are half-long or overlong: 'blood [ ]' — 'edge [ ]' — 'roll [ ]', 'sheet' — 'town [ ]' — 'town [ ]'. • Diphthongs and consonant combinations are written as combinations of single letters, regardless of whether they are pronounced short or long. Only
s after
l, m, n, r may be doubled if not followed by another consonant ( 'waltz'), otherwise combinations "consonant+double consonant" and "double consonant+consonant" occur only in morpheme boundaries, e. g. 'modern' (
-ne is a suffix), 'cardboard box' (from 'cardboard' and 'box'). However, a double consonant at the end of a root is simplified before a suffix beginning with a consonant (except
-gi/-ki): 'townsman' (from 'town'). • The single word-medial or word-final letters
f and
š represent half-long consonants , the double letters
ff and
šš represent overlong consonants . After consonants,
f and
š are always written single, regardless of whether they are pronounced half-long or overlong. • Palatalization is not indicated in writing, e. g. 'jug' — 'toy'. It occurs in words that have
i in declension: 'toy [ and ]'. • Stress is not indicated in writing. Usually it falls on the first syllable, but there are a few exceptions with the stress on the second syllable: 'thanks', 'female friend'. Often the original stress is preserved in loanwords, such as 'ideal', 'professor'; presence of long vowels (as in ) also shows stress. ==Syllabification==