The speakers of the two major historical languages spoken in Estonia, North and
South Estonian, are thought by some linguists to have arrived in Estonia in at least two different migration waves over two millennia ago, both groups having spoken considerably different vernacular. In 1525, the first Estonian language book was printed. It contained a religious
Lutheran text which, however, never reached its intended readers, as it was immediately censored and all printed copies were destroyed. The first extant Estonian book is a bilingual German-Estonian translation of the
Lutheran catechism by S.Wanradt and J.Koell dating to 1535, during the
Protestant Reformation period. An Estonian grammar book to be used by priests was printed in German in 1637. The
New Testament was translated into the variety of South Estonian called
Võro in 1686 (northern Estonian, 1715). The two languages were united based on Northern Estonian by
Anton thor Helle. Writings in Estonian became more significant in the 19th century during the
Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840). The birth of native Estonian literature was during the period 1810–1820, when the patriotic and philosophical poems by
Kristjan Jaak Peterson were published. Peterson, who was the first student to acknowledge his Estonian origin at the then German-language
University of Dorpat, is commonly regarded as a herald of
Estonian national literature and considered the founder of modern Estonian poetry. His birthday, March 14, is celebrated in
Estonia as
Mother Tongue Day. A fragment from Peterson's poem "Kuu" expresses the claim reestablishing the birthright of the Estonian language: :
Kas siis selle maa keel :
Laulutuules ei või :
Taevani tõustes üles :
Igavikku omale otsida? In English: :
Can the language of this land :
In the wind of incantation :
Rising up to the heavens :
Not seek for eternity? :::
Kristjan Jaak Peterson In the period from 1525 to 1917, 14,503 titles were published in Estonian; by comparison, between 1918 and 1940, 23,868 titles were published. In modern times
A. H. Tammsaare,
Jaan Kross, and
Andrus Kivirähk are Estonia's best-known and most translated writers. Estonians lead the world in book ownership, owning on average 218 books per house, and 35% of Estonians owning 350 books or more (as of 2018).
Official language Writings in Estonian became significant only in the 19th century with the spread of the ideas of the
Age of Enlightenment, during the
Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840). Although
Baltic Germans at large regarded the future of Estonians as being a fusion with themselves, the Estophile educated class admired the ancient culture of the Estonians and their era of freedom before the conquests by Danes and Germans in the 13th century. When the
Republic of Estonia was established in 1918, Estonian became the
official language of the newly independent country. Immediately after
World War II, in 1945, over 97% of the then population of Estonia self-identified as native ethnic Estonians and spoke the language. When Estonia was invaded and reoccupied by the Soviet army in 1944, the status of Estonian effectively changed to one of the two official languages (Russian being the other one). Many immigrants from Russia entered Estonia under Soviet encouragement. When Estonia joined the EU in 2004, Estonian became one of its now 24
official languages. The return of former Soviet immigrants to their countries of origin at the end of the 20th century has brought the proportion of native Estonian-speakers in Estonia now back above 70%. Large parts of the first- and second-generation immigrants in Estonia have now adopted Estonian (over 50% as of the 2022 census). == Dialects ==