WIKITONGUES: Sulev speaking Võro

Well hello! My name is Sullõv
and I am a Võro speaker.

I myself am from Võromaa.

and if we recall, there are three
Baltic Sea countries, or states here -

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
My mother is from

the highest point of these three
countries - Haanimaa.

And therefore, the Võro language,
my mother tongue,

is a kind of language from the Võromaa
heartland, or Haani language -

from the Vahtsõliina parish and Haani.

But what kind of language is Võro?

The Võro language is a small
Finno-Ugric language.

It is a Finno-Ugric language of the
Uralic language family.

And more precisely, a Baltic-Finnic;
a small Baltic-Finnic language.

It is spoken in South Estonia

more specifically, in southeastern
Estonia, in Old Võromaa.

Old Võromaa is the home/territory
of the Võro language

where the Võro language is spoken.

And in addition to Old Võromaa, Võro
is spoken in Tartu and Tallinn a lot.

In both Tartu and Tallinn, Estonia’s
two largest cities,

there are approximately
10,000 Võro users.

And in total - we had a population
census in 2011 -

there were almost 75,000 people who
said that they speak/understand Võro.

So, Võro is not a very large language,
but nor is it very small.

If Estonian is spoken by around 1 million
people, Finnish by 5 million,

then Võro is spoken by approximately
1/10th of Estonians.

Approximately 1/10th of people who
understand Estonian

also understand Võro.

And the Võro language is
similar to Estonian,

but it is, on the other hand, also
similar to Finnish.

So for those who understand
Finnish or Estonian

it is very easy to learn Võro.

So some say, that until now, Võro
is viewed as a dialect of Estonian.

But actually, I don’t think so.
And today, the majority

of linguists don’t think that Võro
is a dialect of the Estonian language.

It is viewed as a separate language, and
Võro is even considered to be the oldest

of the Baltic-Finnish languages;
such as, Estonian,

Finnish, Karelian, Vepsian, and Livonian

In fact this applies to all South Estonian
languages, as we also have Mulgi,

Seto, and Tartu - four South
Estonian languages.

If we start from the west, from the sea
then Mulgi is the smallest

Tartu is also very small, whereas Võro
is the largest South Estonian language

and Seto too, it is a smaller one,
but it is among the stronger ones.

Võro and Seto are these kinds of
stronger South Estonian languages;

Mulgi and Tartu are smaller nowadays,
although in the past they were also bigger.

So Võro is this kind of language.
It is similar to Estonian,

and Finnish, but still rather different.

For example in Võro, my t-shirt says,

"kõnõlõ võro keelen".

What does this mean?

So "kõnõlõ võro keelen" – means
“I speak Võro”. Yeah?

But if there were also this “hõq”
at the end, an important sound in Võro

is this type of glottal stop, made with
the throat, like “maq”,

“maq” and “saq” and
“latsõq” and “majaq”

If there were this “hõq” sound, marked
with the letter “q” or an apostrophe:

"kõnõlõq võro keelen", then this would
become an imperative,

meaning you should speak Võro!

But if it is so, then it is “maq kõnõlo
võro keelen”.

And then in Võro there are many
“õ” letters:

“kõnõlõ", three õ’s in one word,
"kõnõlõ", but there can be more.

And there there are many letters with
umlauts: ä, ü…very many.

It is called [used for]
vowel harmony.

In the Estonian language this does not
exist anymore, although it used to,

but in Võro it does - there are many
letters with umlauts and õ’s.

And in Finnish there are also many
letters with umlauts, many ä sounds.

But no longer in Estonian.

In this sense, Võro and Finnish
are similar - in this sense.

So Võro and Finnish are viewed
as these very old languages.

The Estonian language has
changed more.

Today’s Estonian has evolved,

so it is not as ancient [close to Proto]
Finno-Ugric anymore.

But Võro and Finnish are viewed as these
very Finno-Ugric ancint languages.

And actually, within Estonia, people
consider the Võro language

as a very, very old language.

So these are Estonia’s oldest
languages: Võro and Seto.

But the Seto language is a bit
smaller than Võro.

And to the Seto language, Setos are
Orthodox, followers of the church,

but Võros share the same religion
as other Estonians,

meaning that they are Lutheran, or
believers of Native Religion,

we also have such people.

But other than that, Võro and
Seto are closely related.

There is not much difference.

And all South Estonian languages:
Mulugi, Võro, Seto, and Tartu,

all are very similar or very related.

And so, I am saying these things because
I myself am a Võro teacher.

I teach Võro at the University
of Tartu

and every week I have a Võro
class where I teach to the students.

And along with the University of Tartu
is the Võro Institute.

There is a Võro Insititute in the
town of Võru

and there I am developing a dictionary,
a Võro dictionary.

For example, Võro language technology,
the artificial sound of Võro,

to make computers speak in Võro,
and so you input text into the computer

and the computer will read the
text outloud in Võro.

This kind of thing we have done
with others.

And then the electronic Võro dictionary

has been an important project for us,
the online dictionary.

And this kind of Võro language
technology,

this automatic Võro language
grammar and learning,

which is accessible on the internet,
is what I do at the Võro Institute.

That, and teaching Võro to
students at the university.

And we offer Võro language courses
to people in the town of Võru.

One course for beginners just concluded,
15 people learned a bit of Võro.

We will have a follow-up course in
the fall. And then, what else?

So I am this kind of person,

very much involved with the
Võro language.

For example online, on Facebook
I have a Võro language group

that I am moderating.

Today, actually last night, we reached
2k followers of our language group.

Before we had less.

Within a few months, many
people have joined.

So this Võro language Facebook
group is rather popular,

there are quite many people there.

Now we have 2,000.

And now, maybe something
about children.

I have two young daughters, the
youngest one is 8 and the other is 14.

And then a 16 year old son.

And then one older daughter who
lives aboard, she is already 25.

But all this time I have spoken with
the children, and also with my wife,

the Võro language at home.

Our home language is Võro.

The children always respond in Võro,
there is no other way.

For example, when I read a bedtime
story every evening,

I read it in Võro.

Because there are not very many
Võro-language children’s books -

there are 20-30 Võro-language
children’s books, but then I read,

I take an Estonian book, sometimes
a Russian or Finnish book,

and read it out in Võro.

So if there is a book with simple
text, a simple book,

then it is possible this way to read a
bedtime story in Võro, our own language.

Meaning you translate it as you go.
And this is quite good,

if you have some books. Well, it is very
easy from Estonian, a bit more difficult

from Russian, English, or Finnish.

The most interesting children’s book
that I have simultaneously translated

was from the Kven language.

This is a small language similar to
Finnish, spoken near the Arctic Ocean

The book was a comic. The kids really
liked the translation from Kven to Võro.

And then, when I sometimes
accidentally say some word in Estonian,

when speaking with the children,
then they correct me.

For example, instead of “õkva”,
I may say “kohe” - [immediately]

in Võro it is “õkva”, but in Estonian
the same word is “kohe”.

Accidentally I may say it sometimes.
Sometimes this happens.

Or I may accidentally say “koer” [dog]
instead of “pini”,

and then the children correct me
immediately:

“Hey Dad, what are you saying? It must
be ‘pini’, it must be ‘õkva’!”

I am very pleased about this.

But unfortunately, children do not have
the opportunity to attend a Võro school.

There are no truly Võro-language schools
in Võromaa, nor in Tartu.

So the children go to an Estonian school,
but before they went to a language nest.

Fortunately there is a Võro
language nest.

This is a small daycare group using
Võro, and it is based in Haani.

There are about 10 children,
8-10 children.

And all my children have gone,
initially in the town of Võru,

later in Haani—all my children have
gone to the Võro language nest.

They went only once a week,
but I am still glad

that the children have been able to
speak Võro with other children.

But there are very few children
speaking Võro, unfortunately.

When I was small, my mother and
grandmother spoke Estonian with me.

Between themselves, mom and grandmom
spoke Võro all the time.

I heard Võro every day, but they did
not speak it to me.

And then at some point, I began demanding
that they speak Võro to me.

And I began speaking Võro myself
and told them,

“Don’t speak Esotnian to me,
speak Võro!”

And from then on, I have spoken
the Võro language.

And I spoke Võro with everybody,
in Võromaa.

In Võro-language territory I speak
Võro with everybody.

In Tartu, [I speak] with acquaintances.

With shop assistants [I do not know],
I speak Estonian.

But with all of my acquaintances,
I speak Võro with them.

Well, the Võro language is not
that different from Estonian.

So usually all of my friends understand.

Friends, or acquaintances, speak to me

in Estonian, and I speak to them in
Võro in return,

and we understand each other more or
less, or even rather well.

I understand very well of course, but
they do not understand some words

but more or less they do.
And so this is how it is.

And actually, I think that people could
speak their language more.

I would like it the way it is,
for instance, in Norway.

In Norway everybody speaks in
their own dialect[/language],

and nobody speaks in the Norwegian
written language.

But in Estonia all people speak in
the Estonian written language.

The written language is not
really meant for speaking,

rather for writing and reading,

but here the written language is spoken
and it is told this is the common lang.

But it is effective, so that people say
that one should speak the written lang.

But this is strange because written lang
should be for writing, not for speaking.

But in Estonia it is like this - people
speaking the written language.

But in reality, one could speak
one’s own language.

So that as many Võro people we have
who can speak their language,

they could speak it, and speak it
to their children.

One could speak in one’s own
language to one’s children.

And so this is very important -
how does a language continue living?

One must speak it to children.
I know this, and I really hope

that other people could also
know [believe] this.

And my big dream is, and this is also
the goal of the Võro Institute,

that there would be Võro language
kindergartens in Võromaa.

Right now in approx. half of Võromaa
kindergartens, Võro is taught 1x/week.

And so this is not a full kindergarten,
but just one group, and then this group

has one Võro language day.

This is called a language nest day.

But there is no kindergarten where
all 5 days are [taught] through Võro.

This is a big dream, that this
would happen.

But it seems that kindergartens
are not ready for it yet.

We only have one such language nest
daycare, 3 days a week,

there is simply no money for more. Yeah.
Võro, võro—

Well, in Estonia, the Estonian lang is the
state lang. and all these big efforts

and the education system and
everything is in Estonian.

They say that there is not enough money
for Võro and that there are not

so many possibilities, and so we must
concentrate on - well, Estonian itself

is a small language - so we must
concentrate on Estonian.

But Võro is only spoken in Estonia.

So if Võro does not receive
solid state support,

then Võro will become extinct.

Actually, we badly need to create a
Võro-language education system:

schools, kindergartens, and
Võro-language media.

For instance, daily news in Võro.

Right now there are 5 minutes of radio
news in Võro once per week.

We should have a bit every day.

But these are the kinds of dreams
or plans that we, the Võro people have,

to get our schools, kindergartens,
media, and more, in our own language

so that the Võro language would have
a lot of hope to survive.

So I think that the future of Võro,

and other small languages, depends first
and foremost on the users themselves.

Like how much, or whether, they speak
to their children or not.

If people speak to their kids all the
time, then the lang. will not disappear.

And another thing - but for that,
to get the will

to speak the lang. with one’s children,
this also requires state support.

So there would be these kindergartens
and newspapers, and actually,

it is very difficult for parents to stay
in their own language

if the state does not support it.

We badly need that this state where
the language is spoken, for example

Võro in Estonia, that the Estonian state
should provide much support for Võro.

Otherwise, mothers and father will not
just begin speaking Võro with their kids.

It depends on the mother and father,
whether the language survives.

But this, for the [parents] to speak
their own lang. to their children,

this depends on whether the state is
kind and if there is enough support.

So this is a kind of collaboration,
between the individual & state today,

for a small language to keep going.

One cannot depend on the
individual person only.

There has to be strong support,
like from the school, kindergarten,

and the state as well.

And this applies not only to Võro,
but to all small languages,

that they need support, otherwise
they will not survive.

Yes it depends on speakers, but
speakers must be supported.

Then the language will
continue living.

This is the story of the Võro language.

But I hope that you will hear Võro
again sometime.

And if you come around here, if you
come to Estonia, then come to Võromaa,

and if you are Estonian then it is even
easier, come to Võromaa and join

my Võro language courses if you
want to learn the Võro language.

Either Võro language courses at the
University or at the Institute,

so that you can learn Võro.
Very well, all the best to you!