Võro
võro kiil
Spoken in	Estonia
Region	Southern Estonia
Ethnicity	Võros
Native speakers	70,000  (date missing)
Language family	Uralic Finnic South Estonian Võro
Dialects	Seto
Official status
Regulated by	Võro Institute (semi-official)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	vro
Võro language area — Võromaa (Võro county) in its historical boundaries between Tartu and Seto areas, Russia (Vinnemaa) and Latvia (Lätimaa)
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This article is a part of a series on
Estonian dialects
North Estonian dialect group
Eastern Estonian dialect Mid Estonian dialect Western Estonian dialect Insular Estonian dialect
Northeastern Estonian dialect group
Coastal Estonian dialect Northeastern Estonian dialect
South Estonian dialect group
Mulgi dialect Tartu dialect Võro language
v t e

A bilingual Estonian-Võro parish sign in Võrumaa. The parish name with vowel harmony (Urvastõ) is in Võro.

A Tringual (Estonian-English-Võro) sign of a tourist information center in Võru.

A 1998 ABC-book in Võro language written by Jüvä Sullõv, Kauksi Ülle etc.: "ABC kiräoppus"

An 1885 ABC-book in Võro language written by Johann Hurt: "Wastne Wõro keeli ABD raamat"

The Võro language (Võro: võro kiil, Estonian: võru keel)^[1][2] is a language^[3] belonging to the Finnic branch of the Uralic languages.^[4] Traditionally it has been considered a dialect of the South Estonian dialect group of the Estonian language, but nowadays it has its own literary language^[5] and is in search of official recognition as an autochthonous regional language of Estonia. Võro has about 70,000 speakers (Võros) mostly in south-eastern Estonia, in the eight parishes of historical Võru County: 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.^[6][7][8]

History[link]

Võro is a descendant of the old South Estonian tribal language and is the least influenced by Standard Estonian (which is based on Northern Estonian dialects). Võro was once spoken further south and east of historical Võromaa in South Estonian-speaking enclaves Lutsi, Leivu and Kraasna 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[link]

The majority of Estonians perceive the Võro language as a modern synonym for South Estonian^[9]. Today, Võro is used in the works of some of Estonia's best-known playwrights, poets, and authors (Madis Kõiv, Ülle Kauksi, Jaan Kaplinski, Ain Kaalep, etc.). One newspaper is printed in Võro: the fortnightly Uma Leht (literally 'Our Own Newspaper'). 26 public schools offer weekly special (mostly extracurricular) classes in modern Võro.

Estonia's contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was the song "Tii", which was performed by Neiokõsõ in Võro. The language is endangered^[10] by standard Estonian due to the government's lack of legal commitment to protect the language.

Writing system[link]

Võro employs the Latin script, like Estonian and Finnish.

Most letters (including ä, ö, ü, and õ) denote the same sounds as in Estonian, with a few exceptions. The letter q stands for the glottal stop /ʔ/ and y denotes /ɨ/, a vowel very close to Russian ы or Polish y (from 2005 written õ). The acute accent marks palatalization of consonants (like in Polish): ś, ń, ĺ, t́, ḱ, h́, ḿ, and so on.

Phonology[link]

Vowels[link]

In Võro there is vowel harmony, typical of many Uralic languages but lacking in modern standard Estonian.

Consonants[link]

All Võro consonants (except /j/ and /ʔ/) can be palatalized. The glottal stop (q, IPA [ʔ]) is a very common sound in Võro.

Differences among Võro, Estonian and Finnish[link]

• A 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 and Finnish languages; compare:

• 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:

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 is appended to the end of the verb, whereas standard Estonian and Finnish have a negative verb, which precedes the verb. In Estonian and Finnish, the negative verb ei (Finnish en/et/ei/emme/ette/eivät) is used in both present and past negation, whereas in Võro the same is expressed by different particles ending with -i(q) or -s:

• 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); many Võro words are closer to Finnish than to Estonian:

Language example[link]

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.

In Finnish:

Kaikki ihmiset syntyvät vapaina ja tasavertaisina arvoltaan ja oikeuksiltaan. Heille on annettu järki ja omatunto, ja heidän on toimittava toisiaan kohtaan veljeyden hengessä.

Basic greetings[link]

• 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

• Kuis lätt – How are you / How you doing?

• Häste – I'm fine

• Olõq terveq tulõmast! – Welcome!

Important words and phrases[link]

• 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

• Mul om – I have

• Sul om – You have

• Kas sul om? – do you have?

• Mul olõ-õiq – I have not

• üts, kats, kolm, neli, viis – one, two, three, four, five

• kuus, säidse, katõsa, ütesä, kümme – six, seven, eight, nine, ten

• sada, tuhat, mill'on – hundred, thousand, million

• vabandust / pallõ andis – sorry or excuse me

• vesi – water

• 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 am English / American / Canadian / Australian / New Zealander / Irish / Scottish

• Kon sa elät / kon ti elät? – Where do you live?

See also[link]

• South Estonian language
• Finnic languages
• Võro Institute
• Uma Leht, newspaper in the Võro language

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Võro language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Justinas Marcinkevičius (March 10, 1930 – February 16, 2011) was a prominent Lithuanian poet and playwright.

Life and career[link]

Marcinkevičius was born in 1930 in Važatkiemis, Prienai district. In 1954 he graduated from Vilnius University History and Philology faculty with a degree in Lithuanian language and Literature. He joined the Communist party in 1957. He worked for a number of years as vice-chairman of the board of the official Union of Lithuanian Writers. He died in Vilnius.

Literary style and themes[link]

Having grown up during the post-war period, Marcinkevičius evokes in his poetry a romanticized version of childhood spent in the Lithuanian countryside, of first love, of man's relationship with nature. In his poetry specific and solid peasant thinking is combined with a mind seeking to draw broad general conclusions, and the tradition of Lithuanian poetry singing the Earth's praises with contemporary modes of poetic thought. As a poet, he has sought to grasp the essence of national experience and give it fresh artistic expression. In his lyrical verse Marcinkevičius strives to comprehend the real meaning of what is going on inside man and society and moves the reader with his ardent lyrical confessions.

For most his life Justinas Marcinkevičius lived and wrote during the complex times of Soviet totalitarianism. He defended the cultural self-awareness of his nation. The poet brought back humanistic idea in describing a man, continued on the romantic and lyric poetry tradition, valued the aesthetic side of literature, as opposed to the heroic and propagandistic style of socialist realism. Marcinkevičius wrote poems in a romantic and modern style. Justinas Marcinkevičius is regarded as one of the most prominent members of Sąjūdis.

Awards and Acknowledgements[link]

• Lithuanian National Prize
• National Advancement Prize in Culture (May 18, 2008)

Works of note[link]

After the emergence of Marcinkevičius' first book I Plead for a Word in 1955, he has published fourteen collections of poetry, three historical plays, two collections of essays, a novella and various translations into Lithuanian.

Poetry and compilations[link]

• “Liepsnojantis krūmas” (The Burning Bush) (1968 m.),
• “Gyvenimo švelnus prisiglaudimas” (The Gentle Cuddle of Life) (1978 m.)

• Rhymed trilogy of dramas:
  • „Mindaugas“ (1968 m.),
  • „Mažvydas“ (1977 m.),
  • „Katedra“ (The Cathedral) (1971 m.).

Novels[link]

• „Dienoraštis be datų“ (A Diary Without Dates) (1981 m.),
• „Tekančios upės vienybė“ (Unity of a Flowing River) (1994 m.)

He has also translated into Lithuanian works of Adam Mickiewicz, Alexandr Pushkin, Sergei Yesenin, Mikhail Lermontov, and the Finnish Kalevala legend.

References[link]

• (Lithuanian) Year of Lithuanian book. Justinas Marcinkevičius Biography. Retrieved on 2007-09-24

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