Moora (Moor)

On its own, this means Moor, but with reservations: the only references found to moora are in compound words such as Mooramaa, Mooramees or Mooramaalane (Ethiopian, Blackamoor or Negro), which might have applied during pre‑CPPC (communist party politically correct) days to welcome the African communists invited to study in Soviet universities. Moor:Moori, on the other hand, is a Swedish loan word (from mother, see Vaari, meaning old woman or hag). But the plot thickens: Strangely, Kivi suggested a põiktänav and umbtänav named after a celebrated archaeologist, Harri Moora (1900-1968), on 1968-05-16 where KNAB gives 1958-05-16. Since Estonia does not (today) name streets after living persons (which explains the sorry absence of Hamiltoni puiestee in the city center), his candidacy seems unlikely whichever the date. It’s probably fair to say that he assumed the naming of a new street to be in honor of a recently-deceased (14 days earlier) but remarkable Estonian scientist by mistake. However, the dates and genitive do match Felix Moor (1903-1955), Estonia’s legendary first radio broadcaster and radio-drama producer, nicknamed Raadioonu, Uncle Radio (curiously, his nickname in the Estonian Biographical Database [Eesti biograafiline andmebaas] is Onu X, and X-rays are a form of radiography). Further corroboration comes with the street’s abutting onto Tähetorni and its proximity to the actual tower (<800 m) which may once have served as radio transmitter, and to Vääna (±2.5 km). It would be nice to think that the Soviet authorities believed there were getting a “Merited Scientist of the Estonian SSR” while actually commemorating a popular ‘local hero’ resonating more for his promoting Estonian theater, language, children’s entertainment and radio broadcasting. All three streets built and named by the Soviets 3 years after Felix’s death, Moora põik was renamed as Nõva in 1958, of the other two one is a tänav (street), the other the only umbtänav (cul-de-sac) in Tallinn, even though both are cul-de-sacs (while the tänav might vaguely wander off into a woodland track...). A sculptured plaque in his honor has now been put up in the entrance to the ERR building (see Kreutzwaldi F.R.).

• HISTORICAL
• Person

Edela (Edel)

South-west, south-western, south-westerly. Also süüdvest among sailors. Estonian is one of those rare languages which still has actual names for ordinal, or intercardinal, directions (NE, SE, SW & NW). Note that Estonian edel = Finnish lounas, and Est. lõuna = Fi. etelä (see table below), and that both Est. & Fi. ‘north’ are cognate with a sense of beneathness (Est. merepõhi, for example, means sea floor) as is also Old Norse norðr, poss. derived from PIE *ner-, left or below, since that’s where it is when facing the rising sun, and cognate with Sanskrit nārakaḥ, नारक, Eng. beneath and nether, and Gk νέρτερος (nerteros), under, deeper, the nether world, the dead. Similarly, west, vestr, etc., comes from a PIE root suggesting behindness, where the sun would be if you face east(ish), while Lithuanian vakar, yesterday, vakaras, evening, and vakarai, west, are all related to Latin vesper and the Greek Hesperides, the nymphs of evening and sunsets, strongly suggesting our IE ancestors’ key direction was east. For more on the oddities of Nordic compass points, see Loode. The interrelation of compass points between various Finnic languages is, shall we say, complicated... See below, for example Liv. idā does not map onto its Est. cognate ida, but kirre, South has 3 conflicting etymons, and Liv. lēņtš ≠ Est. lääs, but edel... And while Ida (east), is equivalent to ON austr – cognate with Lith. aušra, dawn, daybreak, Greek αυγή (auge), sunlight, dawn, and even Vedic Sanskrit uṣā́s, dawn – and related to shining, gold, aurora and rosy-fingered dawn, it later gives us austral, or southern, while the Sami for east is nuorti, probably a loan-word, but suggesting a rotational effect perhaps related to latitude. I think that’s quite enough...

English	Estonian	Finnish	Livonian	Old Norse
N	Põhi	Pohjoinen	Pū’oj	Norðr
NE	Kirre	Koillinen	Idā
E	Ida	Itä	Ūomõg	Austr
SE	Kagu	Kaakko	Lȭinag?
S	Lõuna	Etelä	Lȭinag?	Suðr
SW	Edel	Lounas	Lēņtš
W	Lääs	Länsi	Ve’žgõr	Vestr
WNW	Vesikaar
NW	Loe	Luode	Lūod

The street used to be in the docks, now in Kivimäe, and pointing – Tallinn toponymy oblige – south-east... See Vesikaare. Interestingly, switches such as these are not restricted to Finnic languages. The Hebrew for winter, חורף (xōref), is cognate with the Arabic for autumn, خريف (xarīf), while the Arabic for winter, شتاء (šitāʾ), is cognate with the Hebrew for autumn, סתיו (stav), which also used to mean winter, but changed at one point.

• NÕMME
• Pääsküla
• Compass

Edu (Edu)

Success, progress, advancement. Very odd. Street started life as Puhke. From 1940-1941, during the first Soviet Occupation, it was renamed Karge, crisp or harsh, before reverting to its original name. Named Põua, drought, from 1959-1960, when it acquired its current name. Part of a metaphysical street-name group. See Lootuse.

• Nõmme