Sage-Tips

How is J pronounced in Estonian?

Consonants “b”, “d”, “g” are usually pronounced voiceless in Estonian, similar to “p”, “t”, “k”. “Š” is pronounced like “sh” in English and “ž” like “zh”. Consonant “j” sounds like “y” in “yoghurt”.

What does G sound like in English?

In English, the sound of soft ⟨g⟩ is the affricate /dʒ/, as in general, giant, and gym. A ⟨g⟩ at the end of a word usually renders a hard ⟨g⟩ (as in “rag”), while if a soft rendition is intended it would be followed by a silent ⟨e⟩ (as in “rage”).

What sound does Õ?

The [õ] sound is the nasal equivalent of [o], a deep sound, as if it were coming from the centre of the body. When pronouncing it, you let air out of your mouth and your nose at the same time. If you find it hard, you can start by saying [o] while pinching your nose closed.

What does the Estonian alphabet look like?

The official Estonian alphabet has 27 letters: A, B, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, Š, Z, Ž, T, U, V, Õ, Ä, Ö, Ü. The letters F, Š, Z, Ž are so-called “foreign letters” (võõrtähed), and occur only in loanwords and foreign proper names.

Is Estonian a phonetic language?

In phonetics, Estonian is probably best known for its three degrees of contrastive quantity: short (Q1), long (Q2) and overlong (Q3). Estonian belongs to the Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric language family and is closely related to Finnish. In the following, the sound system of Standard Estonian is described.

Is Estonian Latin based?

Estonian employs the Latin script as the basis for its alphabet, which adds the letters ä, ö, ü, and õ, plus the later additions š and ž. The vowels Ä, Ö and Ü are clearly separate phonemes and inherent in Estonian, although the letter shapes come from German.

What language is spoken in Estonian?

Estonian
Estonia/Official languages

What are some examples of voiced plosive consonants in Estonia?

For example, it is not worth seeking voiced plosive consonants in Estonian, such as are found in Russian and Finnish: the Estonian letters b, d, g indicate the weak grade of the consonants p, t, k. Thus the letter d is pronounced with voicing in the words президент and presidentti, but without voicing in president.

How many vowels are there in Estonian?

The simplicity of the consonant system of Estonian is somewhat made up for by the vowels, of which there are as many as nine, that is, more than in its most significant contact languages. The English speaker will find the sound ö in the word girl and the sound ä in the word cat, but will not find õ or ü anywhere.

What words have k sound and g sound?

The voiceless (unvoiced) K sound(IPAsymbol: k) can be found in English words such as cat, kid, black, box, cake, quit, and chorus. The voiced G sound(IPAsymbol: g) can be found in English words such as girl, go, egg, big, single, and dog.

How do you read the Estonian alphabet?

Orthography and pronunciation The Estonian alphabet is: a, b, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, š, z, ž, t, u, v, õ, ä, ö, ü. It is simple to read Estonian texts composed of these letters, because it is pronounced as it is written. Nonetheless, those with a different mother tongue have to take certain differences into account.