Autumn has now ended, and the icy chill of Estonian winter is now upon us. For some of you, it was the first autumn in Estonia and I hope that to some extent, you have become familiar with some Estonian words during your time exploring.
I’ve spent a full year here in Estonia and here’s the list of words that (in my opinion) convey Estonian culture and everyday life very well. The list turned out to be very diverse. Some words have no exact translation into other languages, and some cannot be translated in one word and require more details. Others exist also in neighboring languages, being written in the same or slightly altered form, and a few can be translated without loss of literal meaning. As we all come from different backgrounds, it is impossible to say for sure about word’s status in your language. Therefore, I will offer a purely Estonian perspective on these words. Some of you may want to check if there are analogies of them in your language to use or you can adopt them into your everyday spoken language as they are presented in Estonian.
1 – Helkur
As there are many dark months without sunlight in Estonia, the locals have come up with a way to preserve some light, albeit artificial. A reflector, or simply “helkur”, is an important part of keeping people safe at night, as the reflected light from helkur indicates that someone is obviously wearing it, even if the person isn’t visible. It therefore serves as a kind of beacon informing cars of pedestrians. It is usually advised to hang it so that light can reach it from all sides. There are truly many types of helkur colours and forms such as stripes on jackets, backpacks, key chains of geometric shapes and even shoes! You can find them in many shops or get them for free at various events. Depending on the danger of the situation, a pedestrian or cyclist without helkur on their person or bike may receive a monetary fine. Sometimes it is possible to just get a warning and a helkur given to you from a police patrol officer, but this is not always the case. Get your own helkur before you find yourself in an unpleasant situation!
2 – Vastlakukkel
If this is going to be your first February here, then I envy you very much because you can try “Vastlakukkel” for the first time! What does February have to do with it? The fact is that Vastlakukkel is a dessert that is prepared only for Maslenitsa, a traditional holiday in the end of February that marks the end of winter in some regions including Estonia. Vastlakukkel is a bun with lingonberry jam and whipped cream on top. You definitely won’t miss them, as they will be for sale everywhere, from chain supermarkets to coffee shops and cafes. The price will also vary, so I advise you to try as many options as possible to find your favourite one.
3 – Isikukood
Isikukood or a personal identification number is a unique 11-digit number of Estonian citizens and residents. A foreigner coming to Estonia for a long-term purpose such as study or work also can receive it. In essence, isikukood is an Estonian resident’s digital name indicated on the ID card. This code is interesting because it does not only contains so much information about a person, but also because of its way of organising 11 numbers inside. For example, the first digit shows the gender and the century in which the code owner was born, while the 4th and 5th digits show the month of birth. Isikukood opens up many opportunities for foreigners here. For example, it contains health information and digital prescriptions, opens access to the bank’s mobile app and just simplifies many bureaucratic processes, as it becomes easier to identify an isikukood holder in Estonian E-systems. As isikukood owner you can also register in Tervisekassa.
4 – Tervisekassa
The literal translation of this word means “health fund/bank”. It is interesting that until recently Tervisekassa was called Haigekassa, literally translated as “sick fund/bank”. It seems that with the change of the name the purpose of the place also changed – first people came there to be sick, and then they started to come there for health. So, what is this mysterious place exactly for? In fact, Tervisekassa means Health Insurance Fund and deals with Estonian state insurance and medical services. Working adults contribute to this Fund by a social tax deducted from their wages. These funds finance not only their own health care service, but also those groups of people who cannot pay for themselves, such as, children and senior citizens. Foreigners who have an isikukood can also get this type of insurance, which in turn provides free visits to a family doctor, who is a general practitioner that can issue a prescription, provide a quick consultation, write a medical excuse and diagnose most illnesses. With this type of insurance, visits to other doctors are also partially reimbursed.
5 – Piparkook
You can try to find piparkook in the shops all year round, but in the run-up to Christmas there is an abundance of them. Therefore, the traditional shapes of the biscuits are also linked to Christmas. Most often, they look like fir tree, cone, angel or star. Basically, it is a biscuit made of a dough with syrup and lots of spices such as allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, hence the literal translation means pepper cake. Just like Vastlakukkel, there are lots of different kinds of them that can be found in supermarkets and pastry shops, and as Christmas markets start appearing you can also find handmade piparkook there to use as gifts or enjoy alone! Despite this abundance of places to purchase them, here it is also common to bake handmade piparkook at home.
6 – Mõis
If you have had a chance to travel around Estonia, you probably noticed there are many huge and beautiful houses. Some of them might even look like castles. Usually, a park is also attached to such a building. One-word mõis can be used to convey the meaning of the whole area consisting of land, a house itself, a park or garden and other utility and administrative buildings, intended for people working in this area in various branches of agrarian business and production. Nowadays, the territories of mõis are used as tourist sites, recreation areas, hotels, museums and restaurants. However, they used to be functioning work units belonging mainly to German noble families and wealthy people.
7 – Viitsima
Basically, one might translate viitsima as “to want”, but upon closer examination it becomes clear that it contains several shades of other additional verbs connected with desire, such as “to be inclined/disposed” (to do something), “to have enough desire” (for something), “to do something willingly”, “to feel like doing something”. On the other hand, the richness of the nuances of this word can be seen if you put viitsima in the negative form, because then you get a translation as “not to want”, “not to be bothered”, “not to have enough willingness” (to do something). As you can see, viitsima doesn’t sound as direct as tahtma (literally “to want”), so if you want to convey your desire or lack thereof, but do it softer, polite, or even accommodate several meanings at once, you can use ma viitsin/ma ei viitsi depending on your predisposition.
8 – Sai
Sai is a capacious term for many bread products as well as for bread itself, so its translation contains many words – bread, pastry, loaf, roll or bun. It can also be either with or without sweet or unsweetened filling, so it is best not to rely on this tricky part of sai and not to expect it to consist of one particular thing. The main thing that this word conveys is that the product refers to baked goods and some form of pastry. However, it is better to focus on the appearance of the product or on the word that comes before the sai part. Also, you may come across the word saiake, which basically means small sai. So, it is better to try all the sai and saiake you find to start distinguishing between kaneelisaiake, juubelisai, kreemisaiake and many others!
Overall, I hope that these explanations have helped you understand Estonian words a little better and encouraged you to learn even more so that you can stump your non-Estonian friends with phrases such as “I viitsin to eat a couple of sai or a piparkook with vastlakukkel somewhere on the mõis right now, but I have to utilize services of tervisekassa with the help of my isikukood, because I forgot to wear my helkur at night and unfortunately got into a bad situation”.
