Ahju (Ahi)

Stove, oven, kiln. For those interested in trivia: one of the two >3‑letter street names whose letters are in alphabetical order (see Hiiu). Started life simply enough in German as Töpfergasse (1882), potter’s street, apparently after a local craftsman called Floss, then Estonia stepped in with only four of its six main possible spelling permutations – Pottisseppa, Pottiseppa, Pottisepa and Potissepa (all 1885) missing out not only the most sensible, Potisepa, but also the most accurate, Pottsepa, and why compound words involving sepp (smith) do not usually involve a genitive in the first place I don’t know (see Kullassepa, Rätsepa & Sepa*) – then the Russians either translating it lazily as Гончарный пер. (Goncharnyy per., pottery lane, пер. i.e. переу́лок, pereúlok, in 1892) or as Печная ул., (Pechnaya: stove, oven, kiln…, 1884). Interestingly, the apparent shift from stove to potter is because an Est. pottsepp was not always a potter but often a stove, oven and heating-system maker or repair guy. Either way, given the humungous alternative of An der alten Wasserleitung (1881) or am Stadt-Wassercanal (1882) from the water supply prolonging that of Veerenni, a four-letter word was probably in order, and an anagram of Jahu it became.

* Although perhaps they do, see Nõmme.