Editing Estonian language (section)

==Phonology==
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Liisi speaking Estonian.webm|thumb|A sample of Estonian spoken natively]]
{{Summarize|from|Estonian phonology|date=March 2015}}
{{main article|Estonian phonology}}
===Vowels===
There are 9 vowels and 36 [[Diphthong|diphthongs]], 28 of which are native to the Estonian language.<sup>[[Estonian phonology#cite note-1|[1]]]</sup> All nine vowels can appear as the first component of a diphthong, but only /ɑ e i o u/ occur as the second component. A vowel characteristic of Estonian is the unrounded back vowel /ɤ/, which may be [[Close-mid back unrounded vowel|close-mid back]], [[Close back unrounded vowel|close back]], or [[Close-mid central unrounded vowel|close-mid central]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Monophthongs of Estonian<ref name="Asu 2009 367">{{Harvcoltxt|Asu|Teras|2009|p=367}}</ref>
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |[[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" |[[Back vowel|Back]]
|- style="font-size:88%;"
![[Unrounded vowel|unrounded]] || [[Rounded vowel|rounded]]
![[Unrounded vowel|unrounded]] || [[Rounded vowel|rounded]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}}
|{{IPA link|y}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ɤ}}
|{{IPA link|u}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}}
|{{IPA link|ø}}
|{{IPA link|o}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|{{IPA link|æ}}
|
|{{IPA link|ɑ}}
|
|}
===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Consonant phonemes of Estonian<ref name="Asu 2009 367"/>
! rowspan=2 colspan=2|
! rowspan=2| [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan=2| [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan=2| [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br/>alveolar]]
! rowspan=2| [[Velar consonant|Velar]]/<br/>[[Palatal consonant|palatal]]
! rowspan=2| [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! plain
! [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]]
|-
! colspan=2| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
| {{IPA link|nʲ}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan=2| [[Plosive]]
! short
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|tʲ}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}}
|
|-
! [[gemination|geminated]]
| {{IPA link|pː}}
| {{IPA link|tː}}
| {{IPA link|tʲː}}
|
| {{IPA link|kː}}
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Fricative]]
! voiced
| {{IPA link|v}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! voiceless short
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|sʲ}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
|
|{{IPA link|h}}
|-
! [[gemination|geminated]]
| {{IPA link|fː}}
| {{IPA link|sː}}
| {{IPA link|sʲː}}
| {{IPA link|ʃː}}
|
| {{IPA link|hː}}
|-
! colspan=2| [[Approximant]]
|
| {{IPA link|l}}
| {{IPA link|lʲ}}
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|-
! colspan=2| [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
| {{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
|
|}

Word-initial ''b, d, g'' occur only in loanwords and  some old loanwords are spelled with ''p, t, k'' instead of etymological ''b, d, g'': ''pank'' 'bank'. Word-medially and word-finally, ''b, d, g'' represent short plosives /p, t, k/ (may be pronounced as partially voiced consonants), ''p, t, k'' represent half-long plosives /pː, tː, kː/, and ''pp, tt, kk'' represent overlong plosives /pːː, tːː, kːː/; for example: ''kabi'' /kɑpi/ 'hoof' — ''kapi'' /kɑpːi/ 'wardrobe [<abbr>gen</abbr> <abbr>sg</abbr>] — ''kappi'' /kɑpːːi/ 'wardrobe [<abbr>ptv</abbr> <abbr>sg</abbr>]'.

Before and after ''b, p, d, t, g, k, s, h, f, š, z, ž'', the sounds [p], [t], [k] are written as ''p, t, k'', with some exceptions due to morphology or etymology.

Representation of palatalised consonants is inconsistent, and they are not always indicated.

[[Voiced velar nasal|ŋ]] is an allophone of /n/ before /k/.

While peripheral Estonian dialects are characterized by various degrees of [[vowel harmony]], central dialects have almost completely lost the feature. Since the standard language is based on central dialects, it has no vowel harmony either. In the standard language, the front vowels occur exclusively on the first or stressed syllable, although vowel harmony is still apparent in older texts.<ref>Prillop, Külli et al. 2020. ''Eesti keele ajalugu''. Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus. p. 133.</ref>