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Kanarbiku (Kanarbik)
Common heather, heather, ling, heath, briar (in decreasing order of correct usage), Calluna vulgaris. The generic name Calluna is said to come from the Greek, καλλύνω (kallýnō, to beautify, purify, sweep clean), since it used to be used in besom-, i.e. broom-making.
Kandle (Kannel)
Kannel, Estonian zither or psaltery, with strings of horsehair (usu. 4) or metal (usu. 7), but a wide variety of string numbers and types exist. Exquisite to listen to. Given its neighbors – Laulu, Vanemuise, etc. – perhaps attempting to associate the instrument with the mythical birth of Estonia. See also Narva.
Kanepi (Kanep)
Hemp. Word possibly derived from 6/7th‑C Proto-Latvian, but widespread Eurasian usage and interloan makes anything hard to pin down. Belonging to TT’s group of the tekstiilitoorainetenimeliste tänavad, or streets named after textile raw materials, in Sitsi Sub-district of Põhja-Tallinn. See also Lina. Can also mean cannabis, but not in this instance.
Kangru (Kangur)
Weaver, named after nearby textile plant initially called Balti Puuvillavabrik (wool factory) (1898-1941). Underwent major destruction in WWII but phoenixed out and awarded the Order of the October Revolution in 1976 so there’s that… From ’41, there followed a series of name changes involving (or not) ‘Balti Manufaktuur’ until 1995, when acquired (?) and renamed as Baltex 2000 until its closure and loss of several hundred jobs in 2006. See Manufaktuuri, Ketraja and Sitsi. Another translation is ‘heap of granite’. Although the ‘heap of granite’ belies yet another reality. A kangur is also a Bronze age (8-7th-C BCE) burial ground, stone barrow or cairn-grave, where the dead were laid, head facing north, eyes towards the sun. There is a large site in Jõelähtme at ///disavows.fleshes.troll, some 20 km east of Tallinn town center. Estonia has five villages called Kangru.
