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Kivi (Kivi)
Stone, rock, boulder. Judging by the large number of cognates (among other things) – kivi (Finnish, Karelian, Izhorian, Olonets, Ludian & Veps), tšivi (Votic, for stone, flint, millstone...), ki’v (and variants, Livonian), кӱ (Mari), кев (Eryza & Moksha), ke, kew & kaw, (millstone, in Udmurt, Ostyak & Vogul respectively), kő, more apparent in the accusative case: kővet (Hungarian), and geađgi (Northern Sámi), then, stepping on thinner ice, kevi (Hunnic) and, even further back, kuikna (Etruscan: stone projectile) and Sumerian*[1] kur, ku‑ur or ku – one of the oldest known words common to Finno-Ugric languages. Interestingly, various FU creation myths tell of a creation egg, cracking open by various agencies, releasing the sun, the moon and a rock. Personally, rocks have only a limited capacity to excite my imagination, but imagine a people coming to apprehend the huge boulders left by the retreat of the ice (see Rändrahnu). How did they get there?... There must have been much mystery there. Part of what I call the kivinimeliste tänavate hulk (stone-named street cohort). Tartar, for those who’re interested (or don’t brush regularly), is called hambakivi (toothstone), probably copying from German Zahnstein. No relation to Tatari. Anagram of Viki. For other erratic-themed locations, see Kivikülvi.
* The Etruscan and Sumerian etymologies are essentially from Prof. Dr. Alfréd Tóth’s various mold-breaking dictionaries, the validity of which I am unable to judge. Bear in mind, however, that Sumerian, as far as is known, is a language isolate, like Basque. In other words, no other language has been found to be even remotely related to it (other than by the entertainingly lunatic Edo Nyland and his “Basque-Saharan” theory). Even so, as a former lingua franca, it undoubtedly loaned out many words to other languages. To give a rather simplistic parallel, although Estonian and Hebrew share essentially zero DNA, Estonian can borrow יען and bend it into jaana (ostrich). Likewise, the fact that Estonian lava can mean hotbed (among other things) has nothing to do with English volcanoes. While not impossible, and intriguing, there does not seem to be any compelling evidence for Estonian roots in Etruscan.
Kiuru (Kiur)
The pipit, dozens of ’em breeding in Estonia:
- metskiur, tree pipit, Anthus trivialis
- Mongoolia kiur, Blyth’s pipit, A. godlewskii
- mägikiur, water pipit, A. spinoletta
- niidukiur aka stepi-niidukiur, Richard’s pipit, A. richardi
- nõmmekiur, tawny pipit, A. campestris
- randkiur, rock pipit, A. petrosus
- sookiur, meadow pipit, A. pratensis
- taigakiur, olive-backed pipit, A. hodgsoni
- tundrakiur aka punakurk-kiur, red-throated pipit, A. cervinus
Part of the Lilleküla bird-name group of streets. See also Koovitaja.
Kitseküla tänav (Kitseküla)
Not sure how they got this one through the censors... Kitseküla tänav is barely a track fit for goats running (or grazing) alongside the railway-line between the Tondi viaduct over its street and Järvevana. If they can climb over the fence. See Kitseküla asum for details.
Kitseküla (Kitseküla) 
Lit. Goat’s village or goatsville. Said to be named after the area being a former pasture for goats. Now, I’m sorry and all that, and not trying to be a party-pooper here, but didn’t the celebrated old 750-mm kitsarööpmeline (narrow-gauge, see Kitsarööpa) line get laid here in 1901 (rebuilt later to ‘standard’ laiarööpmeline (wide-gauge) of 1520 mm in 1973), the contour of which pretty much matches the NNE stretch of the Sub-district to a tee? And, west of that, nothing to see on the 1914 map of Tallinn but Landhäuser (which we may lightly translate as suvemõisad, summer estates, see Mõisa)… while that of 1876 states simply Die Christinenthäler Wiesen (Kristiine heinamaa, Kristiine Meadows, see Kristiine), with nothing but the Diakonisside Asutis (Deaconesses’ Institution) where the future station would (roughly) be. If a name to symbolize the area was ever looked for, surely one related to the Deaconesses would come first, unless their work entitled them to the epithet ‘goat’? I think not. The first cartographic mention of Kitseküla itself seems to be that of the 1921 Tallinna Plaan (map of Tallinn) published by K-Ü. „Rahvaülikool” (TBC), followed in 1922 by Estonia’s Military Topography Dept. (TBC), also printing the name next to a plot of narrow-gauge shunting lines. Not a single reference to caprids anywhere. Comments welcome!







