Are Latvian and Estonian mutually intelligible?
Table of Contents
Are Latvian and Estonian mutually intelligible?
Not at all. Latvian and Lithuanian are both Indo-European languages as well as Baltic languages whereas Estonian isn’t even in the same language family, belonging instead with Finno-Ugric languages such as Finnish and more distantly, Hungarian.
Which language is most similar to Estonian?
Estonian belongs to the Baltic-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages, and it is most closely related to Finnish, Votic, Livonian, Ingrian, Karelian, and Veps.
Are Finnish and Estonian similar languages?
The lexical similarity of Finnish and Estonian is slightly lower than 50\%. That means a little less than half of the words in either language has corresponding cognate words in the other.
Latvian and Lithuanian are both Baltic languages. They are similar, but not mutually intelligible. While Estonian does share some cognates with the Baltic languages, it is unrelated. Estonian is a Finno-Ugric language on the Finnic branch, related to Finnish, Veps, Ingrian, Livonian, and Karelian.
What are the similarities between Lithuanian and Estonian?
Lithuanian and Estonian are unrelated, however and the occasional similarities are either same borrowings from other languages, such as German, or a result of occasional contact due to their proximity. Latvian and Lithuanian are indo-european languages, while estonian is a finno-ugric language.
How similar is Latvian to other Baltic languages?
Latvian and Lithuanian is the only two live Baltic languages and they are somehow similar. However, we are not able speak with each other. We can understand some single words only. In order to communicate we have to use English or Russian. It is quite different situation comparing to Slavic languages. E.g.
Estonian is a Finno-Ugric language on the Finnic branch, related to Finnish, Veps, Ingrian, Livonian, and Karelian. Estonian is also a distant relative of the Ugric languages, Hungarian, Khanty, and Mansi.