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Welcome to the updated database of the Archives of Estonian Dialects and Kindred Languages!

As the database is still being updated, there may currently be some issues when using the web archive. We are also continuously working on organizing the database records and search fields.

This collection of linguistic material is managed by the University of Tartu, Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics. The archives contain four types of materials:

  1. Sound recordings of Estonian dialects and Finno-Ugric languages,
  2. Unpublished manuscripts, including:
    • student report papers and thesis written at the Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics,
    • transcriptions and written notes on Estonian and Finno-Ugric languages,
  3. Photos from field-work expedition and linguistic events,
  4. Video recordings.

The Archives of Estonian Dialects and Kindred Languages has been digitalized since 2000 (supported by the Ministry of Research and Education program "Humanitaar- ja loodusteaduslikud kogud"). This work has been done by Pärtel Lippus, Liina Lindström, Ellen Niit, Grethe Juhkason, Kaspar Riiberg, Tuuli Tuisk, Martin Eessalu, and other students and faculty members of the Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics, University of Tartu. This web-based database was developed within the course "Software project" (MTAT.03.138 held in autumn term 2011 at the University of Tartu). The final solution is written by Rauno Moisto. The archive system is an open-source freeware, the code is available here.

An independent part of the archive is the Corpus of Estonian Dialects, which contains morphologically tagged texts.

State of the art

The Archives consists of

  1. 3130 hours of digital recordings
  2. 416 000 pages of manuscripts (318 000 of which are digital)
  3. 3297 photos
  4. 98 hours of video recordings

(as of 26 July 2025)

Terms of use

  1. The Archives of Estonian Dialects and Kindred Languages have a digital database, which is freely accessible. Just use the search, this does not require signing up or logging in. See the search instructions for more details.

  2. When using the materials from the Archives of Estonian Dialects and Kindred Languages referring to the source is required. Each material has a unique archive number which is used for referring. For example a recording with Hanila informant Juhan Kukk from 1959 can be referred to as AEDKL F0033-01 and a BA thesis defended in 2003 can be referred to as AEDKL D1401 .

  3. We kindly ask you to let us know if you are using and referring to something from the archive in your work. This does not restrict using the material but helps us report the usage frequency of the archive.

  4. The materials from AEDKL can not be published without the permission from University of Tartu Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics.

  5. Some of the contents of AEDKL is accessible only for authorized users. This concerns newer recordings and related material. More information about getting a user account.

Contact

For feedback and questions please contact the archive administrator Tuuli Tuisk (e-mail tuuli.tuisk [ät] ut.ee).

Postal address:

Archives of Estonian Dialects and Kindred Languages
University of Tartu, Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics
Ülikooli 18
50090 TARTU
ESTONIA

Updating of the Archives has been supported by the Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies (European Union, European Regional Development Fund) and is related to the funding of scientific collections (Estonian Ministry of Education and Research).

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