lav – inclusive code Individual codes: lvs – Standard Latvian language ltg – Latgalian language
Glottolog
latv1249
Linguasphere
54-AAB-a
Use of Latvian as the primary language at home in 2011 by municipalities of Latvia
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Latvian (endonym: latviešu valoda, pronounced[ˈlatviɛʃuˈvaluɔda]),[3] also known as Lettish,[4] is an East Baltic language belonging to the Indo-European language family. It belongs to the Baltic subbranch of the Balto-Slavic branch of the family and it is spoken in the Baltic region. It is the language of Latvians and the official language of Latvia as well as one of the official languages of the European Union.[5] There are about 1.2 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and 100,000 abroad. Altogether, 2 million, or 80% of the population of Latvia, spoke Latvian in the 2000s, before the total number of inhabitants of Latvia slipped to 1.8 million in 2022.[6] Of those, around 1.16 million or 62% of Latvia's population used it as their primary language at home, though excluding the Latgale and Riga regions it is spoken as a native language in villages and towns by over 90% of the population.[7][8][9]
As a Baltic language, Latvian is most closely related to neighboring Lithuanian (as well as Old Prussian, an extinct Baltic language); however, Latvian has followed a more rapid development.[10] In addition, there is some disagreement whether Latgalian and Kursenieki, which are mutually intelligible with Latvian,[11] should be considered varieties or separate languages.[12]
Latvian first appeared in print in the mid-16th century with the reproduction of the Lord's Prayer in Latvian in Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia universalis (1544), in Latin script.
^"EU official languages". European-union.europa.eu. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
^"Dažādu tautu valodu prasme". vvk.lv (in Latvian).
^"At Home Latvian Is Spoken by 62% of Latvian Population; the Majority – in Vidzeme and Lubāna County". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
^"Latvian Language Is Spoken by 62% of the Population". Baltic News Network. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
^Žemaitis, Augustinas. "Languages". OnLatvia.com. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
^Dahl, Östen; Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria, eds. (2001). The Circum-Baltic Languages. John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 9027230579. OCLC 872451315.
^"How Latgale chose to join Latvia". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017. The Latgalian language falls within the High Latvian dialect and is of course mutually intelligible with the other dialects.
^"Latgalian Language in Latvia: Between Politics, Linguistics and Law". International Centre for Ethnic and Linguistic Diversity. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and 100,000 abroad. Altogether, 2 million, or 80% of the population of Latvia, spoke Latvian in the 2000s, before...
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the Constitution of Latvia form the foundation for language policy in Latvia, declaring Latvian to be the official state language and affirming the rights...
894 persons in Latvia reported Latvian as their main language spoken at home; 698,757 respondents listed Russian as their main language spoken at home...
Livonian as a lesser used language in Latvia – along with Latgalian – is represented by the Latvian Bureau of Lesser Used Languages (LatBLUL), formerly a...
Latgalian language (a dialect of Latvian) is also protected by Latvian law as a historical variation of the Latvianlanguage.[citation needed] Latvia portal...
Latvia (/ˈlætviə/ LAT-vee-ə, sometimes /ˈlɑːtviə/ LAHT-vee-ə; Latvian: Latvija Latvian pronunciation: [ˈlatvija]), officially the Republic of Latvia is...
acronym for Latvian Sign Language. The Official Language Law of 9 December 1999, which came into force on 1 September 2000, gave Latvian Sign Language a legal...
Latgalian language (variously considered a separate language or a dialect of Latvian) adds two extra letters to this standard set: Ō and Y. Latvian has a...
independence, Latvian legislation again allows the giving of up to two given names and it has become more common to give a middle name to children. Latvian male...
Latvian Braille is the braille alphabet of the Latvianlanguage. The alphabet is as follows. It uses international w for v. All Latvian print diacritics...
Indo-European language family. The East Baltic branch has only four living languages—Latvian, Latgalian, Lithuanian, and Samogitian. It also includes now-extinct...
modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region Latvianlanguage, also referred to as Lettish Latvian cuisine Latvian culture Latvian horse Latvian Gambit...
could speak and write Latvian. The Latvian milieu of many towns was a good incentive for Russians to learn the Latvianlanguage. 70% of Russian residents...
independence, the Latvian government re-adopted the traditional red-white-red flag. Though officially adopted in 1921, the Latvian flag was used in as...
The Latvian Wikipedia (Latvian: Vikipēdija latviešu valodā [ˈvikipɜːdija] ) is the Latvian-language edition of the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia...
The Latvian Orthodox Church (Latvian: Latvijas Pareizticīgā Baznīca) is an Eastern Orthodox church in Latvia, part of the wider Eastern Orthodoxy community...
transcription delimiters. This article is about the phonology of the Latvianlanguage. It deals with synchronic phonology as well as phonetics. Table adopted...
Latvianization (sometimes Lettization) is a cultural assimilation of something non-Latvian into Latvian. This process was an important component during...
Kursenieki language (Kursenieki: kursisk valuod, German: Nehrungskurisch; Latvian: kursenieku valoda; Lithuanian: kuršininkų kalba) or Curonian language of the...
practices and the later folk traditions of the Latvian people and pre-Christian Baltic mythology. Latvian mythology is used particularly as a tool for reconstructing...
occupation of Latvia in 1940. This Law prescribes: Latvianlanguage as the official language in accordance with the Constitution of the Latvian Soviet Socialist...
subject–verb–object. Latvian has pre-nominal adjectives and both prepositions and postpositions. There are no articles in Latvian, but definiteness can...
The Latvian Riflemen (Latvian: Latviešu strēlnieki; Russian: Латышские стрелки, romanized: Latyshskie strelki) were originally a military formation of...
(vokatīvs) Latvian has two grammatical genders, masculine and feminine. Latvian nouns can be classified as either declinable or indeclinable. Most Latvian nouns...
The Latvian Russian Union (LRU, Latvian: Latvijas Krievu savienība, Russian: Русский союз Латвии, romanized: Russkiy soyuz Latvii) (LKS) is a political...
Latvian War of Independence (Latvian: Latvijas Neatkarības karš), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles (Latvijas brīvības cīņas) or the Latvian War...
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