ÕS 2025 debate exposes confusion over Estonian language rules

Estonia’s new orthographic dictionary has prompted debate over which words belong in standard language and where its rules can be found, ERR reported. The Estonian Language Institute’s leading lexicographer Margit Langemets and researcher Lydia Risberg reviewed the media response to ÕS 2025 for the programme “Language Minutes.”

Published in December last year, ÕS 2025 has now been in use for nearly three quarters of a year. More than 80 articles have mentioned the orthographic dictionary since its release, although it was often referred to only in passing alongside other topics. Nearly half of the articles focused directly on ÕS.

The coverage came in two waves: first around the dictionary’s publication in December, and again at the end of January in connection with a popular initiative. After that, ÕS was discussed mainly in a survey published in the journal Keel ja Kirjandus from May to July. The survey, titled “What do we need ÕS for?”, included linguists, teachers, writers and translators, with 16 participants in total.

On Midsummer Day, an international conference of researchers studying prescriptivism was held in Brussels. The conference examined aspects of the ideology of “right and wrong” in language. The researchers presented their analysis of how Estonian media received ÕS 2025.

Media discussions covered standard language and the need to update it, actual language use, ÕS as a symbol, the importance of printed books in a digitalised world, linguistic richness and the preservation of the Estonian language.

Two concerns stood out. The first was the perception of ÕS as a list of permitted words. The dictionary’s foreword explicitly states that its selection of words is only a small part of all possible words, and that a word’s absence does not mean it is prohibited. Instead, other sources should be used. It also says that restrictive language rules apply to the state, public administration and official texts.

Despite this, ÕS continues to be interpreted as a general list of permitted words. The researchers noted that people tend to view any dictionary in this way, particularly one whose name includes the word “correctness.” A popular initiative stirred strong public reaction by claiming that “a number of honest Estonian swear words and insults have been weeded out of ÕS,” while linguists and teachers did not take the issue very seriously, saying, “We do not need to fight battles over ÕS.”

Questions about the dictionary’s word selection have followed every edition. Critics have often argued that important words are missing, including käskerdis, pötserdis, autsaider and etteheide. At other times, they have asked why words such as bemm and burks were included.

Fifty years ago, Andres Langemets and Joel Sang also noted that ÕS, as a “catechism of correct language,” contained numerous dialect words, archaisms and vulgarisms that should not properly belong to standard language. The current situation was described as an extreme reversal: a 2026 popular initiative called for the return of the offensive words munni, mölakat and tiblat to standard language, arguing that this was “important for the preservation of the Estonian language and culture.”

The debate over ÕS’s word selection is closely linked to a second issue: the relationship between ÕS and Sõnaveeb, a language portal. The discussion reflects confusion over where the standard language rules are located. ÕS is legally the basis for the standard language, while Sõnaveeb contains the Estonian Language Institute’s comprehensive dictionary, which is consistent with the standard.

Both the institute’s comprehensive dictionary, ÜS, and ÕS have developed from the same Estonian language and the same language data. The language rules remain the same regardless of which collection contains a particular word.