The Language Brew

The Language Brew

According to old legend, people were in strife and so the
Old Man decided to scatter them around the world and, in
his cauldron, brew a separate language for each one. As
the Estonians, ever punctual, arrived before the kettle had
started boiling, they received the Old Man’s own language.
That tale, pleasing as it may be, is unfortunately
false. Estonian is one of the Baltic Finnic languages. It has
been influenced by its neighbours’ languages as well as
others spoken in its territory.
At The Language Brew, you can listen to and read
Estonian. What makes the Estonian language special? What
are the phonemes in this Finno-Ugric language and how
do the vocal cords shape Estonian vowels? Estonia has historically
been a linguistic patchwork quilt with over 100 dialects.
How do they sound? Like all languages, Estonian can
be subdivided into several sub-languages. Among them
are oral and Internet variants. How are they different from
the written language? What is Estonian sign language and
is it, too, a subset of Estonian? All languages are in constant
flux. How did Estonian become what it is now?
Note: The permanent exhibition “Encounters” incl The Language Brew gives visitors a chance to brew
up even more Estonian, and recombine the ingredients in new ways. See more stories also in permanent exhibition “Echo of Urals” about Finno-Ugric people and indigenous langages.

Tiit Hennoste, Liina Paales (University of Tartu);
Kristiina Ross (Institute of the Estonian
Language); Kristel Rattus, Tiit Sibul

Producer: Viljar Pohhomov

Head of Exhibitons: Kristjan Raba

Eesti Rahva Muuseum / Estonian National Museum