BASIC COURSE IN ESTONIAN by Felix J. Oinas & Published by Indiana University, Bloomington Mouton & Co., The Hague, The Netherlands 1966INDIANA UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS URALIC AND ALTAIC SERIES EDITOR: THOMAS A. SEBEOK Volume 54 CCopyrigne © 1966 vy mvans University AML orders trom the United Staten of Ameri 0 the Director of Publications, ology. Folklore, and Linguistics, Paton Hos Indiana Univers should be sent to Prblishers, The Hogue, The Satherlanés Composed sad Printed in the United Sates af AmericaPREFACE This Basic Course in Estonian was prepared with support from the American Council of Learned Societies in 1961-62, as one of the projects devised for the development of training materials for use in teaching Uralic and Altaic languages. It constitutes a con- siderable reworking of the Spoken Estonian, textbook written for the use of the U.S. Armed Forces some ten years earlier. The fact that this original version was prepared for the military has left its imprint on the present book. It follows, in general, the plan of textdooks prepared for the U.S. Armed Forces since 1942. Its main emphasis is on the everyday conversational language. The language used is that of educated Estonians; dialectalisms have been avoided. The spelling as well as the use of the majority of dia critical marks follows E. Muuk’s Vaike Bigekeelsus-snaraamat (see the Bibliography), the official orthographic dictionary. The scene for the bulk of this textbook (the first twenty-four units) is the Estonian Republic just before the Second World War. The scene for the last six units is the U.S. here an Estonian immigrant discusses the history, economy, education, and culture of Estonia, referring both to the pre-war and the post-war situations. The units are divided into the following parts: (a) basic sentences that contain Eston- ian words and phrases with their English equivalents; (b) additional words if there are any in the following exercises or conversations; (c) notes on grammar; (d) exercises on grammar with answers provided; (e) conversations; and (f) suggestions for conversations. Because of the nature of the textbook, only highlights of Estonian grammar have been given without going into great detail. However, this should be sufficient for students aiming at acquiring a general knowledge of spoken Estonian. The availability of a native speaker of Estonian for covering the material in the text book would be of paramount importance. The services of the native speaker would be especially important at the initial stage of study, for going over the pronunciation exer- cises and the first units. ‘My wife Bettie compiled a part of the conversations and exercises and helped with the compilation of the vocabulary, and our son Valdar went over the manuscript in its entirety. Dr. Byron Bender (then a graduate student at Indiana University) improved the Eng- lish of the first version of the manuscript. The late Bernard Vahi, M.A., checked the manuscript in its pre-final stage and Professor Warren E. Roberts in the final stage. Professors Robert T. Harms, Ise Lehiste, Hildegard Must, and Alo Raun read the grammatical introduction and Mrs. Mall Jiirma, M.A., sent me some of the factual data. Professor John Lotz functioned as a coordinator between me and the American Council of Learned Societies. To all of them I should like to extend my sincere thanks. Last but not least, 1am very much indebted to Professor Thomas A. Sebeok, the former Director of the Air Force Language Training Programs at Indiana University, whose initiative and encouragement were greatly responsible for the completion of this textbook. The publication of this book was made possible with a grant from The Center for Applied Linguistics which is gratefully acknowleged. Fd. 0.TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ...... SEo ooo ere Er v ABBREVIATIONS ......-.-0 2005 era ix BIBLIOGRAPHY .......-..--5 Sa a eo CR AGRA iena x NOTES ON PRONUNCIATION ....-.-.--- Sees enee en eenas 1 PRONUNCIATION EXERCISES .. 1.0.2.0 00. eee eee eee er 5 oN Eero Toe ro Toor re 10 Basic Sentences 10 Grammar. . 15 Exercises... 17 Conversations 7 sre 18 UNIT2 ......- 21 Basic Sentence 7 21 Grammar tees 27 Exercises... es s ae 30 Conversations 32 UNIT3) ....... : 34 DasiciSentences me a ao cn ce aa ea 34 Grammar... Pe ee ee ee ee ee ee 41 Exercises oe eens pb dab 42 Cesc |ole olobolobcobdobd bo uclok oo boob dabools 45 Wu) goo ocehdopdolodclascohdobdolodopddodosdop 48 Basic Sentences 2... ee ee ee ee See ee 48 (Grsererrar® MPO Parle 0 a ecard a ee a ees 53 Exercises 2.2.2. eee eee ae erere: 55 Conversations 2... 0-60-0005 Soe rs Hola 58 UNITS eee ee Cee ee ee oreo 60 Basic Sentences ......... a es oe ee ee ee eee ee 60 Grammar. ss eee eee ee ee ee eee 65 Exercises 2... cere 68 Conversations 70 UNIT6 ...... 72 First Review 72 UNITT 6... eee eee 7 Basic Sentences 7 Grammar. . 82 Exercises. 85 Conversations a Pop eee a — 88 UNTEO mer eee te Beeler ee ee eae a A 90 Basic Sentences 90 Grammar i : 95 Exercises ........ : 99 Conversations 2... eee eee eee meee 102aT ere 104 Basic Sentences 104 Grammar 109 Exercises az Conversations 11s S17 LOE ee nq Basic Sentences nz Grammar 172, Exercises... 0-5 126 Conversations 130 UNIT. 131 Basic Sentences 131 Grammar 137 Exercises 140 Conversations 145 UNITIZ eee 147 Second Review 147 SITS we. 155 Basic Sentences 155 Grammar... 160 Exercises 163 Conversations 167 src lg a ee 169 Basic Sentences z 169 Grammar... ++ Aer i Sree 173 Exercises... 175, Conversations 177 SITIB wee eee 179 Basic Sentences. . re Grammar ..--- 183 Exercises i 185 Conversations 188 rr ices eaeneree 189 Basic Sentences. 189 Grammar. 194 Exercises 196 Conversations. . 199 MITT casas con 201 Basic Sentences 201 Grammar. ....- 205 Exercises. 208 Conversations... au UNIT 18 : 213 Third Review Gba 213 NIT 19 5 ny 219 Basic Sentences apa 219 Grammar... BS 224 Exercises. Ba 226 Conversations. an 230 ‘UNIT 20 on 232 Basic Sentences oc B 232 (Grasses cil eee sce entnen nes ee ees eet one oes nel ese evo onsen anaes 236 Exercises 0.0.55 Pelee ete eater ene a 5 238° Conversations... .. 5 Pee een eee : ; 243UNIT 21 .....-0-e Basic Sentences. Grammar Exercises... Conversations ...... UNIT 22 Basic Sentences Grammar Exercises .. Conversations UNIT 23)... 2.6 Basic Sentences oo Grammar... 005+ Exercises Conversations. UNIT 24 Fourth Review UNIT 25... Basic Sentences... + Grammar .. Exercises 54-02-0005 Conversations 6... eee eee UNIT 26 .....- Basic Sentences Grammar .....-+5- Exercises... + Conversations .....- UNIT 27... 45 Basic Sentences Grammar. . Exercises Conversations UNIT 28 .. Basic Sentences Grammar... Exercises Conversations UNIT 29... 6. Basic Sentences Grammar... Exercises Conversations UNIT 30 a Fifth Review GLOSSARY. INDEX .. 244 244 249 251 255 256 256 261 263 264 266 266 270 271 214 275 275 280 280 284 286 290 292 292 296 298 302 303 303 307 310 313 315 315 319 321 325 326 326 331 336 339 341 341 353 397abbr. adj. ere compar. ....-.- gent ee eee iat. ar inf. part. ple. ABBREVIATIONS abbreviated adjective comparative genitive illative infinitive ja nii edasi) ete. literally nominative partitive participle plural postposition see singular substantive superlative toponymicBIBLIOGRAPHY Grammars and Linguistic Studies P, Ariste, Eesti kecle foneetika. Tallinn, 1953. Robert T, Harms, Estonian Grammar. (Indiana University Publications, Uralic and Altaic Series, Vol. 12) Bloomington, Ind., 1962. Henno Janes, Eesti keele grammatika, I. Stockholm, 1947. H, Janes, Eesti keele tuletusdpetus. Geislingen, 1946. H, Janes ja 0. Parlo, Eesti keele grammatika gimnaasiumile, Il: Lause- ja tuletusdpetus. Tallinn, 1942. Use Lehiste, Consonant Quantity and Phonological Units in Est: (Indiana University Publications, Uralic and Altaic Series, Vol. 65.) Bloomington, Ind., 1966. Elmar Muuk, Lihike eesti keeledpetus, I: Hadliku- ja vormidpetus. Tartu, 1940. Alo Raun and Andrus Saareste, Introduction to Estonian Linguistics, (Ural-Altaische Bibli- othek, XII.) Wiesbaden, 1964. b. Readers Felix J. Oinas, Estonian General Reader. (Indiana University Publications, Uralic and Altaic Series, Vol. 34) Bloomington, Ind., 1963. Ants Oras, Estonian Literary Reader. (Indiana University Publications, Uralic and Altaic Series, Vol. 31.) Bloomington, Ind., 1963. ¢. Dictionaries Elmar Muuk, Viike Sigekeelsus-s6naraamat, Stockholm, 1947. E, Nurm, E. Raiet ja M. Kindlam (toimetanud), Oigekeelsuse sSnaraamat. Tallinn, 1960. Paul F, Saagpakk, An Estonian-English Dictionary, I. With an Introduction by Johannes Aavik. New York, 1955. (Contains the letters A -Gn.) J. Silvet, Estonian-Englivh Dictionary. Tallinn, 1965. M, Vares, Besti-inglise taskusGnaraamat, Wadstena (Sweden), 1946.