Estonian holidays - Mother Language Day (Emakeelepaev)

The celebration of Mother Language Day in Estonia is directly related to a series of historical events that influenced the formation of the Estonian language. The date of the celebration also did not appear by chance. On one spring day, March 14, 1801, an Estonian poet was born, who became the founder of the literary poetic language. His name was Kristjan Jaak Peterson. K.Ya. Peterson is the first to write and publish scientific works that study the linguistic features of the Estonian language. He was also one of the first translators from Scandinavian languages ​​into Estonian. K.Ya. Peterson became the founder of the Estonian literary language, making it more melodic, deep, with a varied and multifaceted syllable, placing it among other previously formed languages ​​of Northern Europe. Mother Language Day became an official holiday in Estonia only in 1996. Nowadays, the holiday is celebrated all over the world, wherever Estonians live. On this day, linguistic competitions for knowledge of the native language are held in all educational institutions in Estonia, and meetings are held in scientific circles to study modern problems of language development. A memorable and iconic symbol is the laying of flowers at the monuments of Kristjan Jaak Peterson. The purpose of the holiday is to maintain and preserve national and cultural identity among Estonians around the world, to popularize the study of the language and traditions of the people. Linguistic meetings, seminars, and conferences are also held in other countries. All these events are aimed at promoting the importance of the Estonian language. There are also readings of Estonian literary works, poetry and prose. In the modern world, more than one million people speak Estonian. 950 thousand of them live in Estonia. An obligatory attribute of this holiday in Estonia is the raising of national flags, which are hung on government buildings in the country.