The Old Spelling

Level 6

In the 1739 Bible, Jummala Sanna means Jumala sõna. A double consonant marked a short vowel, and there was no letter õ yet.

How It Works

Estonian spelling has three periods:

  • Irregular spelling in the oldest texts, up to the end of the 17th century.
  • The old spelling (vana kirjaviis), set by Forselius and Hornung at the end of the 17th century and modelled on German.
  • The new spelling (uus kirjaviis), modelled on Finnish. Eduard Ahrens promoted it in his 1843 grammar, and it became general from the 1870s. The Bible appeared in it in 1889.

How to read the old spelling:

  • A single vowel in an open first syllable is long: Ramat = raamat, Kele = keele, kulus = kuulus.
  • A doubled consonant marks a short vowel before it: Jummal = jumal, temma = tema, Mehhed = mehed, läbbi = läbi.
  • w is used for v: Wanna = vana, Waimo = vaimu.
  • There was no letter õ yet: keik = kõik, Sanna = sõna. The letter õ came into use in the 19th century.
  • Capital letters do not follow modern rules: the 1739 title capitalises many words (Ramat, Sanna, Pühhad), but the Bible text itself writes most nouns in lowercase (taewast ja maad).

The old spelling could not show every difference: modern ala and alla were both written alla. A few surnames still use it, such as Mäggi, which is read like mägi (hill).

Examples (5)

  1. Piibli Ramat, se on keik se Jummala Sanna

    The Bible book, that is, the whole word of God (title of the 1739 Bible)

    In modern spelling: Piibli raamat, see on kõik see Jumala sõna.

  2. temma kulus Irru külla alla

    it belonged to the village of Iru

    In modern spelling: tema kuulus Iru küla alla. Kulus has a long u, and temma and Irru have short vowels.

  3. Pühhad Jummala Mehhed

    holy men of God

    In modern spelling: pühad Jumala mehed.

  4. pühha Waimo läbbi

    through the Holy Spirit

    In modern spelling: püha vaimu läbi. W stands for v.

  5. Mäggi

    Mäggi, a surname in the old spelling

    It is read like mägi (hill).

Common Mistakes

  • Reading a single vowel in the old spelling as short.

    Ramat → ramat
    Ramat → raamat

    In the old spelling, a single vowel in an open first syllable is long. Ramat is raamat (book).

How It Connects

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The Old SpellingLevel 6

Learn This First

The old spelling marks length differently.

Words in This Pattern

vanakirjaviis