Consonants
Basic short series
| bilabial | labio-dental | alveolar | postalveolar | palatal | velar | glottal |
| stop | p | | t | | | k | |
| trill | | | r | | | | |
| fricative | | f, v | s | ʃ | | | h |
| nasal | m | | n | | | | |
| approximant | | | | | j | | |
| lateral approximant | | | l | | | | |
Short palatalised series
| alveolar |
| stop | tʲ |
| fricative | sʲ |
| nasal | nʲ |
| lateral approximant | lʲ |
Long series
| bilabial | labio-dental | alveolar | postalveolar | palatal | velar | glottal |
| stop | pː | | tː | | | kː | |
| trill | | | rː | | | | |
| fricative | | fː | sː | ʃː | | | hː |
| nasal | mː | | nː | | | | |
| approximant | | | | | jː | | |
| lateral approximant | | | lː | | | | |
Long palatalised series
| alveolar |
| stop | tʲː |
| fricative | sʲː |
| nasal | nʲː |
| lateral approximant | lʲː |
Overlong series
| bilabial | labio-dental | alveolar | postalveolar | palatal | velar | glottal |
| stop | pːː | | tːː | | | kːː | |
| trill | | | rːː | | | | |
| fricative | | fːː | sːː | ʃːː | | | hːː |
| nasal | mːː | | nːː | | | | |
| approximant | | | | | jːː | | |
| lateral approximant | | | lːː | | | | |
Overlong palatalised series
| alveolar |
| stop | tʲːː |
| fricative | sʲːː |
| nasal | nʲːː |
| lateral approximant | lʲːː |
Vowels
Basic short series
| front | back |
| close | i, y | u |
| close-mid | e, ø | ɤ, o |
| near-open | æ | |
| open | | ɑ |
Long series
| front | back |
| close | iː, yː | uː |
| close-mid | eː, øː | ɤː, oː |
| near-open | æː | |
| open | | ɑː |
Overlong series
| front | back |
| close | iːː, yːː | uːː |
| close-mid | eːː, øːː | ɤːː, oːː |
| near-open | æːː | |
| open | | ɑːː |
Diphthongs
/ɑe/, /ɑi/, /ɑo/, /ɑu/, /eɑ/, /ei/, /eo/, /eu/, /iɑ/, /ie/, /io/, /iu/, /oɑ/, /oe/, /oi/, /ou/, /uɑ/, /ue/, /ui/, /uo/, /ɤɑ/, /ɤe/, /ɤi/, /ɤo/, /ɤu/, /æe/, /æi/, /æo/, /æu/, /øɑ/, /øe/, /øi/, /yɑ/, /ye/, /yi/, /yo/
Licit initial clusters
Ø
Source: Asu, Eva Liina.; and Pire Teras. 2009. Estonian. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 39.367–372. doi:10.1017/S002510030999017X.
Comments: The phonological analysis of vowel and consonant length follows Lehiste, Ilse. 1965. The Function of Quantity in Finnish and Estonian. Language 41.447–456. doi:10.2307/411787: “In the first syllable of a polysyllabic word, all nine vowels occur in three contrastive quantities” (p. 450); “The maximum number of consonantal quantity contrasts is found in the posi- tion between the vowel of the first syllable and that of the second. All consonants (except /v/) occur in this position in three contrastive quantities” (p. 450). The obligatory simplification of initial consonant clusters in loanwords is no longer productive in contemporary Estonian, but native words do not contain initial clusters.