Vaheperiood

Vaheperiood is a dialect of Võro, an Estonian dialect spoken primarily in the Võru County in southeastern Estonia. It is a part of the more widely spoken Võro language, but has distinct sounds and vocabulary.

Vaheperiood is spoken by around 20,000 people in and around the town of Võru. The name "vaheperiood" translates to "interval period" in English, suggesting a transitional period between two or more distinct language varieties. However, it is considered a separate dialect by linguists.

The Vaheperiood dialect has developed separately from Standard Estonian, and has preserved some archaic features that are no longer found in modern Estonian. It has also borrowed signs and sounds from other languages such as Võro, which group is considered as Uralic languages.

Linguists classify Vaheperiood as a transitional dialect, taking the linguistic characteristics of both Võro and Standard Estonian. It retains features of both languages, but shows trends of assimilation towards Standard Estonian. This is partly due to the increasing domination of Standard Estonian in education and mass media, which may lead to changes in the Vaheperiood dialect.

Vaheperiood has not been documented extensively, making it more vulnerable to extinction. Some linguists predict that Vaheperiood could lose its unique features and fade into the dominant varieties of Võro or Standard Estonian.

Vaheperiood holds cultural significance as an example of linguistic diversity in Estonia, and its preservation could help maintain a unique linguistic heritage. However, continued loss of speakers and lack of documentation threaten the survival of this dialect.