Estonian vocabulary, i.e., the vocabulary of the Estonian language, was influenced by many other language groups.
The heaviest external contribution, nearly one third of the vocabulary, comes from Germanic languages, mainly from Low Saxon (Middle Low German) during the period of German rule, and High German (including standard German). The percentage of Low Saxon and High German loanwords can be estimated at 22âÂÂ25 percent, with Low Saxon making up about 15 percent.
Estonian language planners such as Ado Grenzstein (a journalist active in Estonia in the 1870sâÂÂ90s) tried to use formation ex nihilo, , i.e. they created new words out of nothing but gibberish and nonsense. Examples are Ado Grenzstein's coinages kabe âÂÂdraughts, chequersâ and male âÂÂchessâÂÂ.
The most famous reformer of Estonian, Johannes Aavik (1880âÂÂ1973), also used creations ex nihilo (cf. âÂÂfree constructionsâÂÂ, Tauli 1977), along with other sources of lexical enrichment such as derivations, compositions and loanwords (often from Finnish; cf. Saareste and Raun 1965: 76). Aavik belonged to the so-called Noor Eesti (âÂÂYoung EstoniaâÂÂ) movement, which appeared in Tartu, a university town in south-eastern Estonia, around 1905 (for discussion, see Raun 1991). In Aavik's dictionary (1921), which lists approximately 4000 words, there are many words which were (allegedly) created ex nihilo. Consider ⢠ese âÂÂobjectâÂÂ, ⢠kolp âÂÂskullâÂÂ, ⢠liibuma âÂÂto clingâÂÂ, ⢠naasma âÂÂto return, come backâÂÂ, ⢠nõme âÂÂstupid, dullâÂÂ, ⢠range âÂÂstrictâÂÂ, ⢠reetma âÂÂto betrayâÂÂ, ⢠solge âÂÂslim, flexible, gracefulâ (which did not gain currency, cf. Contemporary Estonian graatsiline âÂÂgracefulâÂÂ, although the word itself is used for a parasitic worm, namely Ascaris lumbricoides), and ⢠veenma âÂÂto convinceâÂÂ. Other Aavikisms ex nihilo (not appearing in Aavik 1921) include ⢠nentima âÂÂto admit, stateâÂÂ, ⢠nördima âÂÂto grow indignantâÂÂ, ⢠süüme âÂÂconscienceâÂÂ, and ⢠tõik âÂÂfactâÂÂ."
Note, however, that many of the coinages that have been considered (often by Aavik himself) as words concocted ex nihilo could well have been influenced by foreign lexical items, for example words from Russian, German, French, Finnish, English and Swedish. Aavik had a broad classical education and knew Ancient Greek, Latin and French. Consider ⢠relv âÂÂweaponâ versus English revolver, ⢠roim âÂÂcrimeâ versus English crime, ⢠siiras âÂÂsincereâ versus English sincere/serious ⢠embama âÂÂto embraceâ versus English embrace, and ⢠taunima âÂÂto condemn, disapproveâ versus Finnish tuomita âÂÂto judgeâ (these Aavikisms appear in Aavik's 1921 dictionary). Consider also ⢠evima âÂÂto have, possess, ownâ (cf. also Estonian omama âÂÂto ownâÂÂ, and mul on, lit. âÂÂto me isâÂÂ, i.e. âÂÂfor me there isâÂÂ, meaning âÂÂI haveâÂÂ) versus English have; ⢠laup âÂÂforeheadâ versus Russian ûþñ lob âÂÂforeheadâÂÂ; ⢠mõrv âÂÂmurderâ and mõrvama âÂÂto murderâ versus English murder and German Mord (these Aavikisms do not appear in Aavik 1921); and ⢠laip âÂÂcorpseâ versus German Leib âÂÂbodyâ and German Leiche âÂÂbody, corpseâÂÂ. These words might be better regarded as a peculiar manifestation of morpho-phonemic adaptation of a foreign lexical item. The often irregular and arbitrary sound changes could then be explained not as subconscious foreign influence but rather as conscious manipulation by the coiner. Aavik seems to have paid little attention to the origin of his neologisms. On occasion, he replaced existing native words or expressions with neologisms of foreign descent. Therefore, Aavik cannot be considered a purist in the traditional sense, i.e. he was not âÂÂanti-foreignisms/loanwordsâ as such.
Inherited vocabulary in Estonian can be classified according to how far off they have cognates among the other Uralic languages.
All these groups correspond to different proposed subgroups of the Uralic languages. However, the historical reality of most groupings is disputed. In principle e.g. a "Finno-Permic" word may be just as old as a "Uralic" word, just one whose descendants have not survived to the modern Samoyedic and Ugric languages.