Estonianscript

Estonianscript is a hypothetical writing system proposed for the Estonian language. It is not in official use and remains primarily a subject of linguistic discussion and speculative fiction. The design envisions a Latin-based alphabet enhanced with diacritics and ligatures intended to capture phonemic distinctions in Estonian more directly than the standard orthography.

In its proposed form, the core alphabet is the basic Latin set augmented with marks to indicate vowel quality, length, and rounding, as well as several diacritics for the Estonian vowels ä, ö, ü, and õ. Consonant representation includes digraphs and ligatures designed to reflect palatalization and consonant clusters typical of Estonian phonology. The system aims for a largely one-to-one mapping where each symbol corresponds to a distinct phoneme.

Phonology-to-orthography rules are described as phonemic: the same letter or diacritic consistently represents a single phoneme, and a single phoneme is represented by a single letter or diacritic. The approach emphasizes regularity and predictability to aid learning and literacy.

Status and usage: There is no official implementation by Estonian language authorities. The script appears in academic discussions of orthographic design and in some speculative or fictional works and conlangs. It serves as an example of how a phonemic, Latin-based script might encode Estonian phonology.

See also: Estonian language, Estonian orthography, Latin script, constructed language.