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In:First Language Acquisition in Finno-Ugric Languages
Edited by Minna Kirjavainen, Ágnes Lukács and Virve-Anneli Vihman
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 33] 2025
► pp. 58–80

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Lexical development in Estonian

 | University of Tartu
 | University of Tartu
Published online: 13 October 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.33.02tul
Abstract
Considerable research has examined early vocabulary development in infants and toddlers. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of the developmental trajectory of lexical development in Estonian-speaking children during the first four years of life. We report findings from parent-report studies based on Estonian adaptions of CDIs, as well as studies analyzing children’s everyday speech, and compare these findings to those from children acquiring other languages. We begin the chapter by describing the productive and receptive vocabulary in Estonian infants and toddlers. We then address factors such as the child’s gender, birth order, kindergarten attendance, and parental educational level and communicative style, all of which have been found to relate to variability in early lexical development. Finally, we raise questions for future research on early vocabulary development. We underscore the need for further research — especially longitudinal and interdisciplinary studies using diverse vocabulary measures — to gain a deeper understanding of how children acquire the Estonian language and how multiple factors may contribute to this process.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Parental report instruments for Estonian children
  • 3.Infants’ receptive (comprehension) and expressive (production) vocabulary
  • 4.Lexical development
    • 4.1Lexical development in Estonian-speaking infants
    • 4.2Lexical development in Estonian-speaking toddlers
    • 4.3Lexical development in Estonian-speaking children before age four
  • 5.Lexical acquisition of word types
  • 6.Factors related to variation in acquisition of early vocabulary
    • 6.1Gender
    • 6.2Birth order
    • 6.3Parental educational level
    • 6.4Kindergarten attendance
    • 6.5Parental communicative styles
  • 7.Summary and future directions
  • References
References (78)
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