摘要：Language is the fundamental basis of national identity, self-determination, and culture. Linguistic diversity is a major guarantee of the cultural diversity of the world. Therefore, it is hard to overestimate the importance of the preservation and development of national languages. Language is also a tool of communication between people both within a state and internationally. Language constitutes an interdisciplinary domain of which legal issues form an important part, and language is a precondition for formulation and enjoyment of fundamental rights. This approach has been recognised at the highest regulatory level in Estonia. Namely, the preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia *2 provides that: ‘[w]ith unwavering faith and a steadfast will to strengthen and develop the state [...] which shall guarantee the preservation of the Estonian nation, language and culture through the ages’. According to legal commentators, ‘the inclusion of the protection of the Estonian language as a basic principle in the preamble of the Constitution implies its recognition as the core value of the nation. It is impossible to separate the Estonian culture from language’. *3
