Distribution of Võro speakers according to the 2021 censusA Võro speakerA girl speaks Võro.South Estonian today. Võro is marked with dark red colour.Percentage of Võro speakers in Estonian municipalities according to the Estonian census 2011A bilingual Estonian-Võro parish sign inVõrumaa. The parish name withvowel harmony (Urvastõ) is in Võro.A trilingual (Estonian–English–Võro) sign on a tourist information center inVõruA 1998ABC-book in Võro language written bySulev Iva,Kauksi Ülle etc.:ABC kiräoppus
Võro is a descendant of the oldSouth Estonian regional language and is the least influenced by Standard Estonian (which is based on Northern Estonian dialects).[12] Võro was once spoken further south and east of historical Võromaa in South Estonian-speaking enclavesLutsi (Ludza),Leivu andKraasna in what is nowLatvia andRussia. In addition to Võro, other contemporary South Estonian languages areMulgi,Tartu andSeto.
One of the earliest written evidences of South Estonian is a translation of theNew Testament (Wastne Testament) published in 1686. Although the status of South Estonian began to diminish after the 1880s, the language began to undergo a revival in the late 1980s.[13]
Today, Võro is used in the works of some of Estonia's best-known playwrights, poets, and authors (Madis Kõiv,Ülle Kauksi,Jaan Kaplinski,Ain Kaalep, etc.). One newspaper is printed in Võro: the fortnightlyUma Leht (literallyOur Own Newspaper). Twenty-six public schools offer weekly special classes (mostlyextracurricular) in modern Võro.
Most letters (includingä,ö,ü, andõ) denote the same sounds as in Estonian, with a few exceptions. The letterq stands for theglottal stop/ʔ/ andy denotes/ɨ/, a vowel very close toRussianы (from 2005 writtenõ).
Palatalization of consonants is marked with anacute accent (´) orapostrophe (ʼ). In proper typography and in handwriting, the palatalization mark does not extend above thecap height (except uppercase lettersŃ,Ŕ,Ś,V́ etc.), and it is written above the letter if the letter has noascender (ǵ,ḿ,ń,ṕ,ŕ,ś,v́ etc.) but written to the right of it otherwise (bʼ,dʼ,fʼ,hʼ,kʼ,lʼ,tʼ). In some sources, an apostrophe is placed after the letter in all cases.
According to the 2021 Estonia census[15] there were 128,590 speakers of South Estonian: 97,320 speakers of Võro (72,240 when excluding 25,080 Seto speakers), 17,310 Tartu language speakers and 13,960 Mulgi speakers.
Võro has preserved the system ofvowel harmony that was present inProto-Finnic.[clarification needed] This distinguishes it from Estonian and some other Finnic languages, which have lost it.
The vowel harmony system distinguishes front, back and neutral vowels, much like the system found in Finnish. A word cannot contain both front and back vowels; suffixes automatically adapt the backness of the vowels depending on the type of vowels found in the word it is attached to. Neutral vowels can be combined with either type of vowel, although a word that contains only neutral vowels has front vowel harmony. The only neutral vowel isi, like inVotic but unlike Finnish and Karelian, wheree is also neutral.
The vowelɨ (in the Võro orthography written withõ ory, see Orthography section) is considered a back vowel for harmony purposes, but does not participate in harmony itself, as it does not occur in suffixes and endings.
Some examples, with Estonian and Finnish included for comparison:
Võro has a negative particle that is appended to the end of the verb, whereas standard Estonian and Finnish have anegative verb, which precedes the verb. In Estonian and Finnish, the negative verbei (Finnishen/et/ei/emme/ette/eivät) is used in both present and past negation, whereas in Võro the same is expressed by different particles ending with-i(q) or-s:
Kyik inemiseq sünnüseq vapos ja ütesugumaidsis uma avvo ja õiguisi poolõst. Näile om annõt mudsu ja süämetunnistus ja nä piät ütsʼtõõsõga vele muudu läbi käümä.
As comparison the same sentence in Standard Estonian:
Kõik inimesed sünnivad vabadena ja võrdsetena oma väärikuselt ja õigustelt. Neile on antud mõistus ja südametunnistus ja nende suhtumist üksteisesse peab kandma vendluse vaim.
In Finnish:
Kaikki ihmiset syntyvät vapaina ja tasavertaisina arvoltaan ja oikeuksiltaan. Heille on annettu järki ja omatunto, ja heidän on toimittava toisiaan kohtaan veljeyden hengessä.
In English : All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Ehala, Martin; Niglas, Katrin (2007). "Empirical evaluation of a mathematical model of ethnolinguistic vitality: the case of Võro".Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.28 (6):427–444.doi:10.2167/jmmd537.0.S2CID52248021.
Eller, Kalle (1999).Võro-Seto Language. Võro Institute.ISBN9985914953.
Iva, Sulev; Pajusalu, Karl (2004): "The Võro Language: Historical Development and Present Situation". In: Language Policy and Sociolinguistics I: "Regional Languages in the New Europe" International Scientific Conference; Rēzeknes Augstskola, Latvija; 20–23 May 2004. Rezekne: Rezekne Augstskolas Izdevnieceba, 2004, 58 – 63.
Iva, Sulev (2007): Võru kirjakeele sõnamuutmissüsteem (Inflectional Morphology in the Võro Literary Language). Dissertationes Philologiae Estonicae Universitatis Tartuensis 20, Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus (online:English summary pp 144–146) (PDF)
Iva, Sulev (pen name Jüvä Sullõv), (2002): Võro-eesti synaraamat (Võro-Estonian dictionary). Publications of Võro Institute 12. Tarto-Võro.
Keem, Hella (1997): Võru keel (Võro language). Võro Instituut ja Eesti teaduste akadeemia Emakeele selts. Tallinn.
Koreinik, Kadri; Pajusalu, Karl (2007): "Language naming practices and linguistic identity in South-Eastern Estonia". Language and Identity in the Finno-Ugric World. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium at the University of Groningen, May 17–19, 2006. R. Blokland and C. Hasselblatt (eds). (Studia Fenno-Ugrica Groningana 4). Maastricht: Shaker.
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