Linguist: Estonian among 5% most spoken languages in the world
Although Estonian may seem like a minor language, it ranks among the top 5 percent of the most spoken languages in the world. According to a linguist, this is remarkable — just like the fact that it is possible to receive a higher education in the national language in Estonia.
Viability of Estonian
Overall, the Estonian language is doing very well and remains vibrant, according to Miina Norvik. There are around 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, and by number of speakers, Estonian ranks among the top 5 percent — an impressive figure, she said. Norvik pointed out that, on average, a language has only about 10,000 speakers globally. Another indicator of a language's vitality is its use beyond the home. "In other words, Estonian is the official language used in government and educational institutions," the associate professor explained.
While Estonian shows strong signs of vitality across several measures, Norvik said this does not mean efforts can ease up. "There's always the ongoing question of how to keep Estonian alive as a language of science, how to ensure people still know idioms and proverbs and how to help them express themselves in the language. It takes continued work — but broadly speaking, Estonian is doing well," she said.
