Everything about V Ro Language totally explained
The
Võro language (
võro kiil) is a language belonging to the
Baltic-Finnic branch of the
Finno-Ugric languages. Traditionally it's considered a dialect of
South Estonian or
Estonian, but it has its own literary language and is in search of official recognition as an autochthonous
regional language of Estonia. Võro language has about 70,000 speakers (
Võros) mostly in south-eastern
Estonia, in the eight parishes of historical
Võru County (
Võromaa):
Karula,
Harglõ,
Urvastõ,
Rõugõ,
Kanepi,
Põlva,
Räpinä, and
Vahtsõliina. These parishes are currently centered (due to redistricting) in Võru and
Põlva Counties with parts extending into
Valga and
Tartu counties. Speakers can also be found in the towns of
Tallinn,
Tartu and the rest of Estonia.
History
Võro is a descendant of the old
South Estonian tribal language and is the least influenced by Standard Estonian (based on Northern Estonian dialects). Võro was once spoken further south and east of historical Võromaa in what is now
Latvia and
Russia. In addition to Võro, other contemporary variants of South Estonian include the
Mulgi,
Tartu and
Seto language or dialect.
One of the earliest written evidences of South Estonian is a translation of the
New Testament (
Wastne Testament) published in
1686. Although the status of South Estonian began to diminish after the
1880s, the language began to undergo a revival in the late
1980s.
Present situation
Today, Võro is used in the works of some of Estonia's most well known playwrights, poets, and authors. Võro is taught once a week in 26 schools. The only Võro language newspaper,
Uma Leht, comes out twice a month. Estonia's contribution to the
Eurovision Song Contest in
2004, the song "Tii" performed by
Neiokõsõ, was in Võro. Võro language is seriously endangered by standard Estonian due to the lack of the government's legal commitment to protect the language.
Orthography
Võro (like Estonian and Finnish) employs the
Roman alphabet. Most letters (including
ä,
ö,
ü, and
õ) denote the same sounds as in
Estonian. Exceptions:
q stands for the
glottal stop /ʔ/,
y denotes /
Russian ы), the [[acuteaccent - Totally Explained">Russian language - Totally Explained">Russian
ы), the [[acute accent marks
palatalization of consonants (like in
Polish):
ś,
ń,
ľ,
ť,
ḱ,
h́,
ḿ etc. Where the acute accent is unavailable, an
apostrophe is often used:
s', l', etc.
Phonology
Vowels
| | Front |
Back |
|
Unrounded |
|
Unrounded |
Rounded |
| Close | i |
y |
ɨ |
u
|
| Mid | e |
ø |
ɤ |
o
|
| Open | æ |
|
ɑ |
|
In Võro there's
vowel harmony, typical of many Finno-Ugric languages but lacking in modern standard Estonian.
Consonants
All Võro consonants (except /j/ and /ʔ/) can be palatalized. The
glottal stop (q,
IPA [ʔ]) is a very common sound in Võro.
Language example
Article 1 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Võro:
Kõik inemiseq sünnüseq avvo ja õiguisi poolõst ütesugumaidsis. Näile om annõt mudsu ja süämetunnistus ja nä piät ütstõõsõga vele muudu läbi käümä.
As comparison the same sentence in Standard Estonian:
Kõik inimesed sünnivad vabadena ja võrdsetena oma väärikuselt ja õigustelt. Neile on antud mõistus ja südametunnistus ja nende suhtumist üksteisesse peab kandma vendluse vaim.
Differences between Võro and Estonian
- Significant difference between standard Estonian and the Võro language is vowel harmony. There is no vowel harmony in the majority of North Estonian dialects and standard Estonian, but it exists in the Võro language; compare:
| Estonian |
Võro |
Meaning |
| küla |
külä |
village |
| küsinud |
küsünüq |
(has been) asked |
| hõbedane |
hõbõhõnõ |
(made of) silver |
Some morphological features of the Võro language are considered to be very old. For instance the 3rd person singular of the indicative mood can be either without an ending or, alternatively, with a s-ending:
| Estonian |
Võro |
Meaning |
| kirjutab |
kirotas |
he writes |
| annab |
and |
he gives |
Among the Finnic languages, such double verb conjugation can be found only in the South Estonian and Karelian languages.
Võro has a negative particle that's appended to the end of the verb, whereas standard Estonian has a negative verb, which precedes the verb. In standard Estonian, the negative verb ei is used in both present and past negation, whereas in Võro the same is expressed by different particles:
| Estonian |
Võro |
Meaning |
| sa ei anna |
saq anna-aiq |
You don't give |
| ma ei tule |
maq tulõ-õiq |
I don't come |
| sa ei andnud |
saq anna-as |
You didn't give |
| ma ei tulnud |
maq tulõ-õs |
I didn't come |
Differences in vocabulary between Estonian and the Võro language can be clearly seen in everyday speech (yet a common Estonian is able to understand most everyday Võro words, since many of them exist in Standard Estonian as dialectal synonyms for the words given or in literary language):
| Estonian |
Võro |
Estonian (dialectal) literary word |
Meaning |
| punane |
verrev |
verev |
red |
| soe |
lämmi |
lämmi, lämbe |
warm |
| jahe |
oigõ |
- |
cool, chilly |
| õde |
sõsar |
sõsar- (in compound words) |
sister |
| uus |
vahtsõnõ |
vastne |
new |
| koer |
pini |
peni |
dog |
| pöial |
päss |
- |
thumb |
| pesema |
mõskma |
mõskma |
to wash |
| tänavu |
timahavva |
- |
this year |
| hunt |
susi |
susi |
wolf |
| mäger |
kähr |
- |
badger |
| laupäev |
puulpäiv |
- |
Saturday |
| surema |
kuulma |
koolma |
to die |
| sõstar |
hõrak |
- |
currant |
| kask |
kõiv |
kõiv |
birch |
| nutma |
ikma |
itkema |
to weep |
| märkama |
rõbahtama |
- |
to notice |
Basic greetings
Tereq! - Hello! Good day!
(Tere) hummogust - Good morning
(Tere) õdagust - Good evening
Hääd üüd / hüvvä üüd - Good night
Näemiq - See you later
Hüvvä / hääd nägemist - Goodbye
Rõõm nätäq - Nice to meet you
Aiteh / Aitjumma - Thank you
Aiteh sullõ kah - Likewise
Kuis lätt - How are you / How you doing?
Häste - I'm fine
Olõq terveq tulõmast! - Welcome!
Important words
jah / jaa - yes
ei - no
ma olõ - I am
maq, saq, tä - I, you, he/she
miiq, tiiq, nääq - we, you, they
seo - this, it
taa / tuu - that, it
muidoki - of course
Üts silmäpilk - One moment!
Mul om - I have
Sul om - You have
Kas sul om? - do you have?
üts, kats, kolm - one, two, three
neli, viis, kuus - four, five, six
säidse, katõsa - seven, eight
ütesä, kümme - nine, ten
sada, tuhat, mill'on - hundred, thousand, million
vabandust / pallõ andis - sorry or excuse me
vesi - water
oluq - beer
Eesti - Estonia
Võromaa - Võro area
võro kiil - Võro language
võrokõnõ - Võro (person)
eestläne - Estonian (person)
saa-i arvo - I don't understand
saa arvo - (I) understand
Kas võro kiilt mõistat? - Do you understand Võro?
Kas inglüse kiilt kõnõlõt? - Do you speak English?
Ma olõ ingläne / ameeriklanõ / kanadalanõ / austraallanõ / vahtsõmeremaalanõ / iirläne / sotlanõ - I'm English / American / Canadian / Australian / New Zealander / Irish / Scottish
Kas ti olõt ingläne? - Are you English?
Kon sa elät / kon ti elät? - Where do you live?Further Information
Get more info on 'V Ro Language'.
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