The Spread of German Loanwords in Standard Estonian and Estonian Dialects

The article provides an overview of the introduction of German loanwords into the Estonian language from the 13th to the 20th century, as well as their spread in Standard Estonian and dialects. German has functioned as a donor language in both its Low German and High German forms; however, Estonian has also had two written standards based on its major dialects—the Tallinn and Tartu literary languages, which were developed on the basis of the North Estonian and South Estonian main dialects. When comparing dialect areas and borrowing periods, a continuity of borrowing becomes evident, where a High German loanword appears either in place of or alongside an earlier Low German loanword. The widespread diffusion of Low German neologisms in Estonian dialects at the time is evidence that they entered the Estonian language predominantly through spoken communication. In comparison, a key difference in the case of High German loanwords is that these new terms were mainly added via the written language.