Script guide › Latin
Estonian vs Latvian
Estonian and Latvian sit in the same corner of the writing-system map — Grafle's Latin group — and players mix them up constantly. Here's the fastest way to tell them apart.
The tell
Latvian has macrons (ā, ī, ē); Estonian has õ/ä/ü and never a macron.
Side by side
Estonian
Kõik inimesed sünnivad vabadena ja võrdsetena.
Tere hommikust! Kõik on hästi, aitäh.
Kes teeb, see jõuab.
Estonian's own tells
- Looks Finnish, but õ (tilde-o) is the Estonian tell — Finnish never uses it.
On signs in:
- Estonia
Latvian
Visi cilvēki piedzimst brīvi un vienlīdzīgi savā cieņā un tiesībās.
Sveiki, kā jums klājas?
Rīga ir skaista pilsēta.
Latvian's own tells
- Macrons (ā, ē, ī) are the Latvian signature — Lithuanian uses hooks instead.
- Comma-below consonants like ņ (cieņā).
On signs in:
- Latvia