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Work in progress

A pile of ro ad signs half-trashed and piled up on a building-site, to indicate the site is in construction.

Website under construction, many entries missing, no photos with the streets yet, layout not finalized...

This started with a book (last few pages under review) and so far 1750 of the 1884 articles (A to most of T & Vs included) entered so far, so some 10% of the links go nowhere.

Logo of the Tallinn Children's Hospital Foundation

The Book

All author earnings of A Rambling Dictionary of Tallinn Street Names to be donated to the foundation or donate here.

If anyone could help or advise as to the legal mechanism, it would be appreciated, thanks!

The Website

Not intended at the beginning, the present website is taking on a life of its own, with plans for relevant discussion forums, picture galleries and, over time, more non-streetname entries.

In theory, it will be funded by advertising relevant to people in Tallinn, to be determined.

A percentage of profits (also to be determined) to be donated to the foundation. 

Contact

Photograph of Simon Hamilton in Pikk street, Tallinn.

Apparently, a company that uses its owner's name is considered more trustworthy because they put themselves on the line.

This is me, in Tallinn this spring (2025), on a 3-month spree to check details, take photos (about 12K), explore (ave. 15K/day), and so on. I think I covered every street in Kesklinn (apart from Mõigu), most of Põhja-Tallinn and some Kristiine.

For information, please contact Simon at this address dot com, thanks!

Names

Õnne

Õnne (Õnn)

Luck, fortune, happiness – Palju õnne: lit. much happiness: Congratulations! or Happy Birthday! accordingly, the full version of the latter being Palju õnne sünnipäevaks. Name changed to Selja during the unhappy days of 1940-1941.

Ööbiku

Ööbiku (Ööbik)

Nightingale (with a great stretch of the imagination and very soggy elastic, this word can be extended to contain one of if not the longest sequence of identical vowels in Estonian. Follow me: töö is work and öö is night so töööö is night-work (well, a work night), so a tööööööbik is a night-operating (i.e. ‑singing) nightingale (thanks to Ardo for this). Of similar linguistic value is, perhaps, the 13-letter word for constipation in English, beginning and ending with ‘n’. Two species breeding in Estonia:

  • Rubiinööbik, Siberian rubythroat, Luscinia calliope
  • and plain old ööbik, thrush nightingale, L. luscinia

Which brings us to the end of the Lilleküla bird-name group of streets. To start again, see Algi, but see also Sisaski. In the introduction, we mentioned dialects. One Estonian linguist, a certain Urmas Sutrop (anagram of Proust, I’m sure you noticed), analyzing the migratory patterns of the Estonian nightingale and currently being measured for suits with very long arms, managed to classify regional expressions of departural desolation into no less than 17 laments, all along the lines of “Our nightingale has gone elsewhere this year”:

  • Meie ööbik on tänavu mujale läinud (Standard Estonian)
  • Meide ööbik aa seaesta maeale läin (Hiiumaa)
  • Meite ööbik oo siasta mäale läind (Saaremaa)
  • Meite üöbik uo sieoasta mõjale läin (Muhumaa)
  • Meite ärjälend oo tänäkond maale läin (Läänemaa)
  • Mede künnilind uu tänabö maeale läind (Vigala)
  • Mede künniljõnd ond tänävasta maalõ läin (Kihnu)
  • Mete üöbik oo tänabu maeal läin (Harju-Risti)
  • Meie üöbik on tänävu muuale mend (Kuusalu)
  • Me õitselind on tänavu maale läind (Järvamaa)
  • Meie kirikiut one tänävu mojale lähänd (Põhja-Virumaa)
  • Mei sisokaine ono (olo) tänä vuo mojale mennö (Vaivara)
  • Meie sisask one tänävuade mõjale lähnud (Kodavere)
  • Mee kiriküüt’ om täo muial lännü (Karksi)
  • Meie tsisask om tinavu muiale lännu (Southern-Tartumaa)
  • Mii sisask um timahavva muialõ lännüq (Võrumaa)
  • Mii sisas’k om timahavva muialõ l’änüq (Setomaa)

Öölase

Öölase (Öölane)

Noctuid owlet moth (numerous species). Part of a lepidopteran group. Lit. night-time being. See Kannustiiva.

  1. Oomi
  2. Õpetajate
  3. Orase
  4. Orava

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