Language Research

The ethnic minorities in the Republic of Estonia all have historical roots. The German settlements date back to the 13th century, when Estonia became a part of Old Livonia. While the Jewish minority can be traced to the 16th and 17th century's when only a small number of Jews lived in Estonia. A larger community was established only in the second half of the 19th century.

The Russian minority is numerically the largest in Estonia. It can be divided into two groups. The Old Believers (5,000), living near Lake Peipsi, settled there in the 17th or 18th century. The second large group is the so-called Soviet immigrants, settled in Petserimaa and on the Narva River. After the Second World War, Estonia was one of Europe's most homogenous states with 97% of the population being ethnic Estonians. This situation changed in 1949, when the Soviet authorities carried out a mass deportation of Estonians to Siberia. By 1989, Estonians made up only 61% of the population and the number of immigrants had risen to more than 35%. The existence of a Russian minority is due to the fact that there were a lot of Russians working in big military plants or factories that had a close connection with Russia.

From 1945 to 1950, over 240,000 people immigrated from Soviet republics to Estonia. Between 1961-70, a second wave of 95,000 immigrants arrived in the country. Non-Russians, discouraged from learning about their culture, melted into the Russian-speaking population. Their children were sent to Russian schools, their work was conducted in Russian and the only permitted news source was Moscow. On the other hand, ethnic Russians enjoyed the existence of Russian schools, Russian churches, Russian parties, Russian newspapers and Russian cities.

Since the beginning of the independence movement there has been a visible shift in the national identities of Estonians and of the ethnic Russians. Estonians quickly defined themselves as a European nation, independent of Russia, politically and culturally connected with West. According to the sociological data collected in May 1990, an absolute majority of Estonians (96%) supported the idea of an independent Estonia while only 26% of Russians supported the same idea. Most Estonian Russians accepted in principal the idea of renewed socialism while most Estonians saw no future in a socialist economic system in any form. The position of Russians living in Estonia was different from those living in other countries because Estonia recognized the great opportunity for separation from the former Soviet Union so quickly. More than 100,000 former Soviet immigrants returned to their homeland immediately after independence.

Another problem arose from the difference between the Russian and Estonian languages. These same language barriers still exist today. The Law on Language adopted by the Estonian Parliament in 1989 (revised edition in 1995) was drafted to change this situation. Knowledge of Estonian, as the state language, was declared to be a professional requirement for a number of jobs. It was also necessary for gaining citizenship. This fact caused problems for many Russian people. The Estonian governments' concept was that knowledge of Estonian is the most significant factor to help create a special diaspora identity instead of the former Soviet identity. Approximately 80% of Russians living in Estonia have accepted this idea.

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Updated (May 2002)

ESTONIANS

In a region traditionally referred to as Aiboland in the northwest of Estonia, Swedish has a many hundred years old tradition as the spoken language. By the end of the 17th century the Estonian Swedes made up 20 percent of the Estonian population.

It is thought that the Swedish settlers came to Estonia around 1100 via Nyland, which is a traditionally Swedish-speaking province in the south of Finland. The resemblance between place names in Nyland and Aiboland verifies this hypothesis.

Before World War II Aiboland consisted of some small separated areas, mostly islands. The strongest Swedish-speaking community was probably in Ormsö (Vormsi in Estonian), a large island west of the Estonian coast. Other smaller Swedish-speaking islands included Odensholm, Rågöarna, Nargö and Runö. On the Estonian mainland the Swedes formed the majority in the areas of Nuckö and Rickul. The center for Estonian Swedes was the town Hapsal (Haapsalu) but a number of Estonian Swedes also lived in Tallinn.

After World War II most Swedish Estonians re-settled to Sweden; just a few hundred remained in Estonia.

All Swedish dialects in Estonia were decidedly more archaic than those in Sweden (the Runö (Ruhnu) dialect was the most archaic dialect). Unfortunately the evacuation to Sweden killed most of them, as the Swedish Estonians in Sweden adopted standard Swedish.

The last decade has seen a remarkable resurgence of the interest in Estonia's Swedish heritage. Many young Estonians study Swedish at school and some even spend a year in Sweden to make their knowledge perfect. Currently there are some schools in which Swedish is the first foreign language. One of these is Nuckö Gymnasium (upper secondary school), situated in the old Swedish heartland; another is Gustav Adolfs Gymnasium in Tallinn. There is also a number of schools in which Swedish is taught as a second or third language.

According to the last census (in 2000) 300 people considered themselves to be Estonian Swedes. Estimates show that 40-50 of these are native Swedish speakers, born before the war.

In fact, Swedish seems to be a highly popular subject among Estonians and many Swedes as well as Finland-Swedes are amazed at the level of language proficiency of Estonians speaking Swedish. The Estonians are very eager to study Swedish so the number applying outnumbers places available. Swedish can be studied at university level at the Pedagogical University of Tallinn or at the University of Tartu. The latter is Estonia's oldest and the most prestigious university and in fact it was founded by the Swedish king Gustav Adolf in 1632 when Estonia for a brief period belonged to Sweden. This period has ever since been known as "the golden age of Estonia."

Source: Eurolang News, http://www.eurolang.net/

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Updated (November 2004)

Although contemporary Estonia harbors several ethnic groups, the Estonians comprise the great bulk of the society. These Finno-Ugric peoples have lived in the present habitat from time immemorial¹. Their forefathers moved in from two different directions, speaking very similar, though not identical Balto-Finnic vernacular. This laid basis for two different Estonian languages, North and South Estonian, which were in use during the Middle Ages, even in print². Except these also Baltic German, based on Low German (Niederdeutsch), was used in municipal administration. The clergy spoke Latin and the language of state administration depended on the language of a conqueror, seizing the whole Estonia or a part of it. Thus, in different times Low German, Swedish, Russian, Danish and Polish were used for that purpose.

In the 18th Century, South Estonian began to be on the wane, while the use of North Estonian increased (the Bible published in 1739, the introduction of compulsory reading skills in 1729). Finally, in the 19th Century, South Estonian was devalued to a low variety vernacular without an accepted literary norm.

According to the 1934 Census, ethnic composition of the Estonian population was as follows: 992,000 (88 percent) Estonians; 92,000 (8 percent) Russians; 16,300 (1.5 percent) Germans; 7,600 (0.7 percent) Swedes; 4,400 (0.4 percent) Jews and several smaller ethnic groups.

Most of the ethnic non-Estonians were bilingual. The majority of the largest minority group (Russians) lived in rural areas, near the town of Narva (29.7 percent of Russians) and the Petseri Region. In Tallinn the percentage of Russians stood at 5.7 percent. The other major ethnic groups, Germans and Jews, lived chiefly in towns and Swedes settled in the Estonian coastal region and on the islands.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In the early 13th Century, the country³ was subjugated by the State of the Teutonic Order. North Estonia was conquered by Denmark (according to a legend, Danes got their national flag from Estonia, as it fell down from the sky when they overrun the future capital of Estonia, Tallinn). In the middle of the 16th Century, the Estonian territory was divided among Poland, Denmark, Sweden and the Grand Principality of Muscovy. Since 1629 Estonia was under the rule of the Swedish Kingdom and the Great Northern War left it as a possession of the tsarist Russian Empire for almost two centuries (1721-1918).

On February 21, 1918, after the October Revolution in Russia, an independent Estonian state was founded; however, on June 17, 1940 it was annexed to the Soviet Union⁴. The Soviet occupation lasted fifty-one years (till August 20, 1991, when Estonia restored its sovereignty).

LEGISLATION BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS

Between the two World Wars Estonia was an independent, mainly mononational state, whose minorities (Russians, Germans, Swedes and Jews) enjoyed ample cultural autonomy adopted in 1925, and based on Article 21 of the Constitution.

Already the first Constitution (from August 9, 1920) contained legal principles guaranteeing the existence of national minorities in Estonia (Articles 6, 12, 20-23). It also provided several linguistic rights, for example the Estonian citizens of German, Russian and Swedish national origin were afforded the right to address state authorities in their native languages. The Law on Public Elementary Schools of May 7, 1920 and the Law on High Schools of December 7, 1922 introduced mother tongue instruction at elementary and high school level.

Several other decrees and laws regulated the official language use in Estonia. The most sophisticated Language Act was adopted by virtue of the Decree from October 29, 1934. This law confirmed previous practices, establishing Estonian as the national and official language. Foreign relations and a national minority domain were regulated in other laws in more detail.

Acquisition planning was based on the Constitutional clauses that declared the Estonian language as the national language, simultaneously providing mother tongue education to minorities. These principles were implemented in several legal and normative acts.

According to the Law on Public Primary Schools, these (grades 1-6) were divided into Estonian-medium, German-medium, Russian-medium, Swedish-medium, or other language-medium schools, based on the mother tongue of pupils (Article 4). In order to attend a non-native language school, one had to have a sufficient reason; the final decision was made by a local school board (Article 7). This principle was further confirmed in the 1931 Law on Primary Schools. It stipulated that non-native language-medium education was allowed only in case there was no corresponding school nearby (the Minister of Education could issue exceptions). At secondary level; however, teaching in Estonian for non-Estonian pupils was allowed (para. 3).

If a respective minority had more than 3,000 members, according to the 1925 Law on Cultural Autonomy, it could establish and maintain a state-financed school with its language as a medium of instruction. This right was widely used by local minorities. In 1929, Russians had 100 primary schools, Germans 19, Swedes 15, Latvians 7, and Jews and Ingrians 3 each.

According to the regulation passed on December 17, 1918 by the Ministry of Education, the Estonian language was required to be a compulsory subject in minority schools (with four lessons per week). To found a state-financed, minority language-medium school a minimum enrolment of twenty pupils was necessary. If the number of minority children did not reach this threshold, they could study their native language only as a subject for three hours a week in any Estonian-medium school⁵.

Those non-Estonians who did not have schools in their native languages usually placed their children in German-medium schools. Besides Estonian-medium also German-medium and even French-medium kindergartens existed.

Higher education was also available in minority languages: German-medium, private theological-philosophical Luther's Academy and Russian-medium, private Polytechnic Institute.

ESTONIA - A PART OF THE SOVIET UNION

On August 6, 1940 Estonia was proclaimed a part of the Soviet Union and named the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. The annexation of Estonia in 1940 entailed disastrous changes in the population (including its ethnic composition) resulting from mass deportations (over 10,000 people), imprisonment of the autochthonous inhabitants (about 7,000) and simultaneous in-migration from the annexing country⁶. All schools, societies and clubs of ethnic minorities were closed as well as their journals and newspapers.

During the first decade of the annexation oppressive methods were used to create favorable social and demographic conditions for destruction of the Estonians and their language and their replacement with imported, trustworthy, Russian-speaking personnel. Between 1945 and 1953 around 75,000 persons were imprisoned, from which a quarter was executed.

To make conditions more acceptable for the non-Estonian newcomers, several areas of public life were fully russified and for sake of keeping their jobs Estonians had to learn the Russian language. Russian was also made the second official language of education (not a foreign language). Knowledge of Estonian was not found necessary by the newcomers. Non-Russian minorities in Estonia had no possibilities to promote and maintain their languages and cultures. On the other hand, the network of Russian-medium schools and clubs enlarged considerably, though not promoting local ethnic culture but the all-Union socialist culture with heavy ideological components.

The proportion of Estonians in the overall population fell from 97.3 percent in 1945, to 61.5 percent in 1989.

The Soviet language policy in Estonia was implemented through a favored immigration pattern. In order to consolidate immigrants on the

1. Creation of a parallel Russian-medium environment, with no need to switch to Estonian
2. Continuous transfer of territorial and functional domains from Estonian to Russian
3. Ideological incentives to prefer Russian to Estonian

The years from 1988 onwards have reflected the biggest changes in the Estonian society. The promotion of democracy through "perestroika" and "glasnost" led to foundation of various NGOs and popular movements, which started the process of mobilization of various interest groups, based on common ethnic, environmental and economic views. It also strengthened the system of fair elections, which consolidated federalism and weakened the power of ideological and military institutions.

RESTORATION OF THE NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY

The Supreme Council of the Estonian SSR passed the Declaration of Sovereignty on November 16, 1988, declaring supremacy of Estonian laws over the Soviet ones. The proclamation of Estonian as the official state language in Estonia and its legalization by a corresponding constitutional amendment was passed by the Supreme Council on December 6, 1988. The Language Act was passed without changes on January 18, 1989. Several additional pro-Estonian steps were taken: legalization of the national colors, restoration of the name "the Republic of Estonia" and the establishment of immigration quotas.

In August 1990, the Estonian Government decided to repeal all acts discriminating the use of Estonian and to create a body empowered to supervise the implementation of the Language Act. On November 23, 1990 the National Language Board was established. Estonians had in their hands the right to end occupation and oppression, including the linguistic one.

THE ESTONIAN LANGUAGE LAW

The 1989 Language Act was a provisional one in its content, matching the needs of the transformational process underway in Estonia. Though it described Estonian as the sole official language, due to political expediency Estonian-Russian bilingualism was required for certain jobs (in most cases knowledge of 800 words was sufficient). To reach a required level of proficiency, a four-year delay was imposed on the law so it became effective only on February 1, 1993.

On July 14, 1989 the Estonian Government passed a decree concerning the Estonian Language Law which set specific language requirements for certain professions.

Decree No. 10 of July 14, 1989 on Guidelines for the Application of Language Requirements in the Estonian SSR prescribed exact dates for implementation. It stated:

The acquisition of language within the boundaries of language knowledge requirements shall be considered as a direct requirement of the employee. With the employment of language knowledge requirements, the enterprise shall be permitted to release an employee for non-possession of the required knowledge.

The Guidelines established six categories of language abilities. The "A" Category required language proficiency corresponding to the basic listening comprehension of 800 most common words and expressions. The "B" Category required both listening comprehension and oral production based on 800 words and "C" added also reading comprehension and a basic competence in written production. The "D" Category was based on a more advanced lexicon of 1,500 words, with both receptive and productive oral and (basic) written skills. The "E" Category described an ability to use the language at one's work, both orally and in writing (vocabulary of some 2,500 words). Finally "F" was defined as a full proficiency in the language. The Guidelines specified in detail jobs belonging into particular categories (C – retail sales and services, D or E – top-management positions, F – the President, members of the Government, the Ombudsman, judges, psychiatrists and a few other professionals).

The 1989 Language Act should be seen as a remedy to language problems in those days, particularly a catastrophic growth of Russian monolingualism and a low status of Estonian in several functional and regional domains. This act did not alter the situation substantially but rather maintained status quo when Estonian enjoyed a higher status among the Estonians and Russian among the Russians. It redefined Estonian from the position of a minority language to the language of state and administration and also granted the right to receive education in one's native language.

Regulation No. 31 issued on January 29 established new requirements for the usage and knowledge of Estonian for the categories of people referred to in Article 5. It introduced a new threshold system dividing the competence in Estonian into three basic categories:

• Basic level (previous A, B, C levels)
• Intermediate level (previous D level)
• Advanced level (previous E, F levels)

In addition to the competence at a required level, one also has to master a work-related terminology.

OTHER LEGISLATION

On November 16, 1993 Estonian Parliament adopted the Law on Cultural Autonomy for National Minorities. This law is a legal successor of a similar law dating back to 1925, which was considered to be a model for the cultural autonomy of national minorities by the League of Nations. The new law revitalizes and simplifies the old one.

Article 1

This Law considers as national minorities citizens of Estonia, who:

• reside on the territory of Estonia;
• maintain longstanding, firm and lasting ties with Estonia;
• are distinct from Estonians on the basis of their ethnic, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics;
• are motivated by a concern to preserve together their cultural traditions, their religion or their language which constitute the basis of their common identity.

The law also guarantees the Estonian non-citizens the right to participate in the activities of the national minority's cultural and educational institutions, thereby reducing, in practice, the difference between citizens and non-citizens. Article 6 regulates the legal position of non-citizens:

Foreigners residing in Estonia may participate in the activities of cultural and educational institutions and religious congregations of national minorities, but they may not vote or be elected or appointed to the leadership of the institutions of cultural self-government.

The re-establishment of the 1993 Law on Cultural Autonomy has had an important effect. According to this law, a cultural self-government, independent of central authorities, may be established by those minorities, who were entitled to this right also under the 1925 Law and by those, who exceed 3,000 in number. By 1995 more than sixty different associations had been registered as regular non-profit organizations. The Estonian Union of Nationalities is an umbrella organization for over thirty cultural societies representing twenty-one ethnic minorities.

EDUCATION

Together with the corresponding demographic trend, the number of Russian-speaking pupils increased up to the year 1990, when they constituted 37 percent of the total number of schoolchildren. In 1993, 17 percent of schools used Russian as the medium of instruction. In 2003/2004 academic year, there were, in addition to 521 Estonian-medium schools, also 87 Russian-medium schools and 25 mixed schools. Currently, there are less than 40,000 pupils in Russian-medium schools and this figure decreases by 4-5 percent every year. The main reason for this drop is repatriation of the Russian troops (since September 1994) and an extremely low birth rate (less than 3,000 children born in Russian-speaking families annually).

Though the Language Act demanded teaching of Estonian (Article 21), the progress in this matter was rather slow. In academic year 1990/91, thirty-two schools did not teach Estonian at all, due to the lack of teachers. In 1992/93, 10 to 15 percent of the pupils in Russian-medium schools did not learn Estonian.

With the adoption of the Law on Primary and Secondary Schools teaching of Estonian was made compulsory from the third grade onwards (Article 9, para. 2). However, since 1996 Estonian has been already taught from the first grade. The curriculum envisages three Estonian language lessons per week. Though some Russian-medium schools use Estonian as a language of instruction for certain subjects (History, Geography), implementation of the law is hindered particularly by an insufficient number of Estonian-speaking teachers.

CITIZENSHIP

On February 26, 1992, the Estonian Supreme Council passed the Decree on the Application of the Law on Citizenship, which reactivated an amended version of the Citizenship Law of July 1, 1938. The resolution was needed in order to make the 1938 Law up to date with the realities of post-annexation Estonia. According to a new wording, Soviet annexation suspended the implementation of the 1938 Law, and therefore all those entering Estonia after the annexation did so unlawfully and thus were not entitled to receive the citizenship automatically.

Parliament enforced the 1938 Estonian Law on Citizenship with the amendments from December 11, 1939 (this version entered into force on June 16, 1940, the last day preceding the Soviet occupation). This law divided the population into two groups: citizens, i.e., those who were the citizens of the pre-war Republic, and everyone else. The 1938 Law on Citizenship was considered to be one of the most liberal in Europe at the time of its adoption. It established the jus sanguinis principle, by which citizenship is passed automatically to descendants. The others could obtain it through a naturalization process requiring a residence of 2+1 year and a basic proficiency in Estonian.

The new Parliament adopted the Law on the Estonian Language Requirements for Applicants for Citizenship in 1993, which was declared void in 1995. Under that law one was expected to:

1. have a listening comprehension of everyday texts, such as news broadcasts, announcements and statements;
2. be able to hold a conversation on a given topic, such as family, work, leisure activities and shopping. Some topics require basic knowledge of Estonian geography, important historical events, culture, national holidays and national symbols;
3. read and provide a short summary of announcements, news reports, newspaper articles, regulations, etc.;
4. be able to complete simple written exercises, such as filling out personnel applications, composing a curriculum vitae, writing an address on an envelope, writing an application for a study or employment position, writing a letter of authorization, and filling out standard forms.

It also provided for special examination guidelines for those born before January 1, 1930 and for the permanently disabled. People born prior to 1930 were exempt from the written requirements, they were; however, required to converse on everyday topics and the Estonian history, culture and national symbols. Graduates of public secondary schools, who had completed a final Estonian language examination in accordance with the standards established by the Ministry of Culture and Education, had the right to apply for citizenship by naturalization without a further examination.

The current Estonian language curriculum for Russian-medium schools, approved by the Ministry of Culture and Education, fully covers the Estonian language requirements. These, though with minor changes, were also incorporated into the new Law on Citizenship, adopted by the Riigikogu on January 19, 1995 (it entered into force on April 1, 1995). Article 5 continued the jus sanguinis principle:

1. Estonian citizenship shall be acquired by birth by:
1. any child whose at least one parent is an Estonian citizen at the time of the child's birth;
2. any child who is born after the death of his or her father, if the father at the time of his death was an Estonian citizen.
2. Any child found in Estonia, whose parents are unknown, shall, at the request of the child's legal guardian or a guardianship agency, be recognized by a court of law to have acquired Estonian citizenship by birth, if it is not proven that the child is the citizen of another state.
3. No person may be deprived of Estonian citizenship acquired by birth.

Article 8:

1. For the purposes of this Law, knowledge of the Estonian language shall be a general knowledge of the Estonian language, required for day to day life.
2. The requirements for knowledge of the Estonian language shall be as follows:
1. listening comprehension (official statements and announcements; notices of danger and warnings, news, description of events and explanations);
2. conversation (conversation and narration, use of questions, explanations, assumptions and commands, expressing one's opinion, expressing one's wishes);
3. reading comprehension (public statements and announcements, public notice, news, sample form, journalistic article, message, catalogue, user's instructions, traffic information, questionnaire, report, guidelines);
4. writing (applications, letter of authority, letter of explanation, curriculum vitae, questionnaire, standard form, completing a test).
3. Knowledge of the Estonian language shall be assessed through an examination.

   Procedures for holding the examinations shall be established by the Government of the Republic.

4. A certificate shall be issued to all persons who successfully complete the examination.
5. Any person who has completed basic, secondary or higher education in the Estonian language shall not be required to complete the examination.

Together with the adoption of the new Law on Citizenship, the whole system of examinations went under rearrangement. Objectivity of the tests, the qualifications of examiners and the administrative management of the testing system were emphasized. The tests were prepared in cooperation with experts from the Cambridge University, under the aegis of the Council of Europe.

CONCLUSION

Current Estonia is socio-linguistically characterized by:

• a predominant position of the Estonian language and culture;
• a dominating position of Russian in certain domains;
• polarized linguistic situation between Estonian and Russian speakers;
• inherent consolidation of Russian-speaking and Estonian-speaking communities;
• a multitude of other languages and cultures, both autochthonous and immigrant;
• different language environments in both territorial and functional domains;
• polarization of the linguistic situation on the Estonian-Russian axis due to the past occupation and totalitarianism.

Source: Mercator Working Paper No. 16, Language Planning in Estonia: Past and Present, by Mart Rannut, in 2004, http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm

¹ at least since the 3rd millennium B.C. and even, according to the latest theories, since the 7th millennium B.C.

² both became literary languages in the 17th Century

³ except for the Setu territory in Southeast Estonia, which was under the Principality of Pskov and where the language and culture bear traces of Russian and Orthodox influence

⁴ on August 6, 1940 Estonia was incorporated into the Soviet Union

⁵ Founding schools was most difficult for heterogeneous or "illiterate" minorities. Jews, who had populated Estonia from the beginning of the 19th Century, used mostly the Russian language (sometimes German or Estonian). Thus, Jewish primary and secondary schools that were founded used Russian as the medium-language, gradually shifting to Jiddish. On June 21, 1926 the Jewish Cultural Council decided to transfer to Modern Hebrew.

⁶ During the period 1939-1940 approximately 22,000 Baltic Germans left Estonia for Germany. In 1943, Estonian Swedes (ca. 7,500) left their homes in the Estonian coastal region and islands for Sweden, in conformity with a German-Swedish treaty. In 1944, before the arrival of the Soviet army, around 75,000 Estonians left as refugees mainly for Sweden and Germany. As a result, by 1946 the Estonian population decreased by one-fifth (200,000) to 854,000.

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