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Vro LanguageThe Vro language (vro kiil), like Estonian, Hungarian, and Finnish, is a Finno-Ugric language. It belongs to the Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. Vro is an autochthonous regional language of Estonia (in search of more recognition). Vro language has about 70.000 speakers (Vros) mostly in south-eastern Estonia, in the eight parishes of historical Vromaa: Karula, Hargl, Urvast, Rug, Kanepi, Plva, Rpin, and Vahtsliina. These parishes are currently centered (due to redistricting) in Vru and Plva counties with parts extending into Valga and Tartu counties. Many Vro language speakers can also be found in Tallinn, Tartu and the rest of Estonia. History Vro is a descendant of the old South-Estonian tribal language and is the least influenced by North-Estonian. The Vro language was also once spoken further south and east of historical Vromaa in what is now Latvia and Russia. In addition to Vro, other contemporary South-Estonian languages include the Mulgi, Tartu and Seto. By some linguists, as well as the Ethnologue, Vro and other South Estonian languages are still called dialects of Estonian. One of the earliest written evidences of South Estonian is a translation of the New Testament (Wastne Testament) published in 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, Vro is used in the works of some of Estonia's most well known playwrights, poets, and authors. Vro is taught once a week in 26 schools. The only Vro language newspaper Uma Leht comes out twice a month. Vro language is seriously endangered by Estonian and by the lack of the government's legal commitment to protect the language. Orthography Vro (like Estonian and Finnish) employs the Roman script. Most letters (also , , , and ) denote the same sounds as in Estonian. Exceptions: q stands for glottal stop, y denotes a vowel very close to Russian ы (not Finnish y!), marks palatalization of consonants (like in Polish): ś, ń, l, t, k, h etc. In Vro all consonants (except j and q) can be palatalized. Glottal stop (q) is very common sound in Vro. There is also the vowel harmony like in Finnish and Hungarian language. See also External links
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