Latvian language

The Latvian language, also known as Lettish, is an East Baltic language that belongs to the larger Indo-European language family. It is mainly spoken in the Baltic region and is the official language of Latvia. It is also one of the official languages used in the European Union. Today, about 1.5 million people speak Latvian as their native language, with most of them living in Latvia and some living in other countries.

Latvian is closely related to the Lithuanian language and also to the now-extinct Old Prussian language. While these languages share a common origin, Latvian has developed in its own special way over time. There is some debate about whether certain related dialects, like Standard Latgalian and Kursenieki, should be considered part of Latvian or treated as separate languages.

The Latvian language first appeared in printed books in the middle of the 1500s. One of the earliest printed examples was the Lord's Prayer shown in a big book called Cosmographia universalis written by Sebastian Münster. This book used the Latin script, which is the alphabet most people use today to write Latvian.

Classification

The Latvian language is part of the big group of languages called Indo-European. It belongs to a special group within this family known as the Baltic languages, along with Lithuanian. These two languages share many old features from a very ancient language called Proto-Indo-European. Over time, they have also changed and developed in their own ways. Latvian has been influenced by the Livonian language as well.

History

The Latvian language comes from ancient Baltic roots. It began to form after mixing with languages from nearby tribes like the Curonians and Semigallians. This happened mostly after the 13th century when Latvia became part of Medieval Livonia.

In the 1500s and 1600s, the first books in Latvian were written, including a hymn translation and a catechism. Important works also included the first Bible translations and the first alphabet book.

During the 1800s, Latvian culture grew stronger, and people began using the language more widely. However, rules under Russian control later changed how the language was used. In the 1900s, many new people moved to Latvia, and not all learned the language well. After Latvia became independent again in 1991, new rules helped make sure everyone could learn and use Latvian. Today, about 80% of people in Latvia speak the language. There are also contests to help pick the best new words for modern ideas.

Dialects

There are three dialects in Latvian: the Livonic dialect, High Latvian, and the Central dialect. The Livonic dialect was influenced by the Livonian language and has two types: Vidzeme and Courland. It has special ways of using sounds in words and has changed over time due to people moving and using a standard language.

The Central dialect, spoken in central and southwestern Latvia, is the basis of standard Latvian. It has three types: Vidzeme, Curonic, and Semigallic. Each type has its own special ways of using sounds in words.

High Latvian is spoken in eastern Latvia and has two main types: Selonic and Non-Selonic. These types have different sound patterns. There is also a standard form called Standard Latgalian, which helps keep this dialect alive. About 15% of Latvia’s people speak this dialect, and many also use the standard Latvian language. Efforts are made to protect and promote this dialect.

Non-native speakers

Many people in Latvia speak Latvian even if it is not their first language. There are around 700,000 people who are not native Latvians, including Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, and others. Most of these people moved to Latvia between 1940 and 1991.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Latvian became the country's only official language. This helped more people learn to speak it. In a survey from 2009, many people who grew up speaking Russian also knew Latvian well. Younger people, especially those between 17 and 25 years old, were even better at speaking Latvian. Today, knowing Latvian is important for many jobs.

Grammar

Main article: Latvian grammar

Latvian grammar follows a classic system with many ways to change words to show meaning. Usually, the stress is on the first part of a word. Latvian does not use special words like "the" to show if something is specific; instead, it changes the endings of adjectives. The usual order of words in a sentence is subject, then verb, then object, but the order can change sometimes.

Main article: Latvian declension

Latvian has two genders — masculine and feminine — and two numbers — singular and plural. Nouns, adjectives, and some other words change their endings to show things like who is doing what to whom.

Main article: Latvian grammar § Verb conjugation

Latvian verbs are grouped into three classes. They change their endings to show who is doing the action, when it is happening, how it is being viewed, and whether it is active or passive.

Orthography

Main articles: Latvian orthography and Latvian Braille

Latvian uses the Latin alphabet. In the past, its writing was based on German rules, but today it has a system that matches sounds more closely.

Today, Latvian writing uses 33 characters. The usual Latin letters are used, with some extra marks added to show different sounds. For example, some letters have small marks above or below them to change how they sound. This helps people read and say words correctly.

In the past, Latvian writing was more complicated and followed German styles. But now, it is simpler and easier for people to use when writing or typing.

Phonology

Main article: Latvian phonology

Latvian has special sounds called consonants and vowels. Some consonants can be long or short, like in the word "mamma". Vowels can also be long or short, and there are special vowel combinations called diphthongs.

The stress in Latvian words always starts at the beginning. Long vowels and diphthongs have a special tone, no matter where they appear in the word.

Loanwords

Many words in the Latvian language come from other languages. During the time when Livonia was ruled by Germany, words like amats (profession), dambis (dam), būvēt (to build), and bikses (trousers) entered Latvian from Middle Low German. When Sweden ruled Livonia, words such as skurstenis (chimney) came from Swedish.

Latvian also borrowed words from Finnic languages, mainly from Livonian and Estonian. There are about 500 to 600 such words, like māja (house), puika (boy), pīlādzis (mountain ash), and sēne (mushroom). Other loanwords include ķermenis (body) from Old Prussian, and veikals (store) and paģiras (hangover) from Lithuanian.

History of the study

The first dictionary of the Latvian language, called Lettus, was made by Georg Mancelius and published in 1638.

Soon after, in 1644, the first grammar book for the Latvian language was written by Johans Georgs Rehehūzens. It was a short guide called Manuductio ad linguam lettonicam and was printed in Riga.