Tähestiku

Tähestik is the set of symbols used to write a language. In Estonian, the word tähestik refers to the alphabet, the basic repertoire of letters and diacritic marks that represent the sounds of the language. Like other languages that use the Latin script, Estonian employs a standard alphabet based on the basic Latin letters and additional characters. In Estonian, these additional letters are ä, ö, ü and õ. The diacritics distinguish phonemes and are essential for correct spelling and meaning. The alphabet underpins literacy, education, publishing and digital input.

Historically, alphabetic writing developed over centuries, with the Latin script becoming dominant in Europe and in many regions that later formed modern nation-states. In Estonia, the Latin-based orthography was established through language standardization efforts in the 19th and 20th centuries, aligning written Estonian with speech and with practices in neighboring Finnic and Baltic languages. The Estonian orthography has since been codified in official language guidelines and dictionaries and has adapted to the digital era through Unicode encoding and standardized input methods.

The concept of a tähestik is shared across languages, but the specific composition and order of letters vary. The Estonian system is designed to be largely phonemic, aiming to represent distinct sounds with distinct letters. Beyond letters, the orthography uses punctuation and capitalization rules to convey syntax and sentence boundaries, and it relies on diacritic marks to preserve phonological distinctions important for meaning.