Latgalian language can mean one of the following:
- It was a language spoken by Latgalians
This article is about ancient Baltic people. For modern ethnic group of Latvians see Latgalians .The term Latgalians can refer to the inhabitants of the Latgale region in eastern Latvia in general, the ethnic Latvians of Latgale This article is about ancient Baltic people. For modern ethnic group...
in a great part of the area which is now LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
. Latgalian was a member of the Baltic groupThe Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...
of the Indo-European language familyThe Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major languages of Europe, Iran, and northern India, and historically also predominant in Anatolia and Central Asia...
. Historically the Latvian languageLatvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
is derived from Latgalian (with additions from a few other languages, e.g. Old CuronianThe term Curonian language may refer to two different, but related Baltic languages.-Old Curonian:Traditionally Old Curonian refers to an extinct language spoken by the Curonian tribe, who lived mainly on the Courland peninsula and along the nearby Baltic shores.The language disappeared by the...
, SemigallianThe Semigallians are one of the Baltic tribes that lived in Zemgale, in the southcentral Latvia...
and LivonianLivonian belongs to the Baltic Finnic branch of the Uralic languages. It is a moribund language until recently spoken by some 35 people, of whom only 10 were fluent. It is closely related to Estonian...
).
- Nowadays it normally refers to a language spoken in the eastern part of Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
known as LatgaleLatgalia or Latgale is one of the four cultural and historical regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Latvian Republic. It is the easternmost region north of the Daugava river...
. Sometimes it is referred to as a distinct separate language, while others consider it to be a dialect of LatvianLatvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
. This modern Latgalian developed as a result of two main factors: LatgaliansThis article is about modern ethnic group of Latvians inhabiting or coming from Latgale. For ancient Baltic people see Latgalians.In Latvian, latgalieši refers to the ethnic Latvians of Latgale, which developed separately from the rest of ethnic Latvia in 1621-1917.In the Latgalian language, the...
having preserved more features of the archaic (tribal) Latgalian language than the other LatviansLatvians , the indigenous Baltic people of Latvia, occasionally refer to themselves by the ancient name of Latvji, which may have originated from the word Latve which is a name of the river that presumably flowed through what is now eastern Latvia...
and LatgaleLatgalia or Latgale is one of the four cultural and historical regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Latvian Republic. It is the easternmost region north of the Daugava river...
being separated for several centuries from other parts of LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
.
Latgalian alphabet
A/a Ā/ā B/b C/c Č/č D/d E/e Ē/ē F/f G/g Ģ/ģ H/h I/i Y/y Ī/ī J/j K/k Ķ/ķ L/l Ļ/ļ M/m N/n Ņ/ņ O/o Ō/ō P/p R/r S/s Š/š T/t U/u Ū/ū V/v Z/z Ž/ž
| A a [a] |
Ā ā [ā] |
B b [be] |
C c [ce] |
Č č [če] |
D d [de] |
E e [e] |
| Ē ē [ē] |
F f [ef] |
G g [ge] |
Ģ ģ [ģe] |
H h [he] |
I i [i] |
Y y [y] |
| Ī ī [ī] |
J j [je] |
K k [ka] |
Ķ ķ [ķe] |
L l [el] |
Ļ ļ [eļ] |
M m [em] |
| N n [en] |
Ņ ņ [eņ] |
O o [o] |
Ō ō [ō] |
P p [pe] |
R r [er] |
S s [es] |
| Š š [eš] |
T t [te] |
U u [u] |
Ū ū [ū] |
V v [ve] |
Z z [ze] |
Ž ž [že] |
Language example
Tik skrytuļam ruodīs: iz vītys jis grīžās,
A brauciejam breinums, kai tuoli ceļš aizvess,
Tai vuorpsteite cīši pret sprāduoju paušās,
Jei naatteik - vacei gi dzejis gols zvaigznes.
Pruots naguorbej ramu, juos lepneibu grūžoj,
Vys jamās pa sovam ļauds pasauli puormeit,
Bet nak jau sevkuram vīns kuorsynoj myužu
I ramaņu jumtus līk īguodu kuormim.
Na vysim tai sadar kai kuošam ar speini,
Sirds narymst i nabeidz par sātmalim tiemiet,
A pruots rauga skaitejs pa rokstaudža zeimem,
Kai riedeits, kod saulei vieļ vaiņuku jieme.
(Poem of Armands Kūceņš)
Latgalian phrases
Latgalian / Latvian
| Latgalian | Latvian | Meaning |
|---|
| Vasals! |
Sveiks! |
Hi! (literally, "Hale and Hearty!", "Sveiks" is more common as "Hi" in Latvian but has a different meaning) |
| Loba dīna! |
Labdien! |
Hello, Good day! |
| Muns vuords Eugeņs. |
Mans vārds ir Eugeņs. |
|
>-
Šudiņ breineiga dīna! |
Šodien ir brīnišķīga diena! |
|
>-
Vīns, div, treis, niu tu breivs! |
Viens, divi, trīs, nu tu esi brīvs! |
Counting game for children)
>- |
Asu aizjimts itamā šaļtī! |
Šobrīd esmu aizņemts! |
|
>-
As tevi mīļoju! |
Es tevi mīlu! |
|
>-
Asu nu Latgolys. |
Esmu no Latgales. |
In Latvian, "esu" is short for "es esmu.")
>- |
Es īšu da sātys. |
Es iešu mājās. |
Note, "sēta" in Latvian means the courtyard to a homestead, also homestead; so a more rural/agrarian sense of "home" in the Latgalian than in the Latvian "mājās", which is more evocative of a house.)
>- |
Maņ pateik vuiceitīs. |
Man patīk mācīties. |
Note, this marked difference between Latgalian and Latvian is quite typical. The set of examples here are quite similar because they relate to basic concepts.)
>- |
Comparison between Latvian, Latgalian and Lithuanian
Note the impact of foreign influences on Latvian (Germanic in Kurzeme and Vidzeme while Latgale was less influenced by the Polonic).
| in English |
Latvian |
Latgalian |
Lithuanian |
Comments |
| around |
apkārt |
apleik |
aplink |
|
| always |
vienmēr |
vysod |
visad(a) |
visādi in Latvian is "all ways" |
| to submit to interrogation, to ask |
taujāt, izjautāt |
klaust |
klausti, klausinėti |
klausīties in Latvian is "to listen"; klau! means "hey!" |
| girl, maid |
meita, meitene |
mārga |
mergina, merga |
meita in Latvian is used more often as "daughter" while meitene means "girl" exclusively |
| kerchief |
lakatiņš |
skareņa |
skarelė |
| dress, frock |
kleita |
sukne |
suknelė |
kleita in Latvian is adapted from the German das Kleid, any native term has been lost |
| to swim |
peldēties |
mauduotīs |
maudytis |
| top, apical |
virsa |
viersyune |
viršūnė |
| stake |
miets |
stulps |
stulpas |
stulpiņi (diminutive, plural for "stulps") in Latvian is preserved as "leggings" |
| to read |
lasīt |
skaiteit |
skaityti |
skaitīt in Latvian means to count, noskaitīt is to recite |
| to come |
nākt |
atīt |
ateiti |
atiet in Latvian means to depart (the root word "iet" means "to go") |
| row, range, line |
aile |
aiļa |
eilė |
| to sit |
apsēsties |
atsasēst |
atsisėsti |
| to answer |
atbildēt |
atsaceit |
atsakyti |
atsaukties in Latvian means to call back (as in after being hailed) |
| to blunge |
mīcīt |
maidzeit |
maigyti |
| to catch a cold |
saaukstēties |
puorsaļt |
peršalti |
saaukstēties in Latvian is a compound word meaning to fill one's self with cold |
| cold |
salts |
solts |
šalta |
auksts is more common in Latvian for "cold" than "salts" which is a chilling cold |
| mistake |
kļūda |
klaida |
klaida |
| page |
lappuse |
puslopa |
puslapis |
compound word, in Latvian the order is "leaf"+"side", reverse of the order in Latgalian and Lithuanian |
| down, downward |
lejup |
zamyn |
žemyn |
zemu in Latvian means "low" |
| and, also |
un |
i |
ir |
un and ari are common usage in Latvian, "i" is archaic |
| to settle in |
iekārtoties |
īsataiseit |
įsitaisyti |
iesaistīties in Latvian means to go into (as in become part of) |
| family |
saime |
saime |
šeima |
"ģimene" is used in Latvian for the core family, saime denotes extended family and household, for example, saimnieks, saimniece are master and mistress, resepctively, of the household |
| homeland ("fatherland") |
tēvija, tēvzeme |
tāvaine |
tėvynė |
| east |
rīti |
reiti |
rytai |
"to the morning" whereas austrumi in Latvian means toward the rising of the sun |
| west |
rietumi |
vokori |
vakarai |
"to the evening" whereas rietumi in Latvian means toward the setting of the sun |
| to stand |
stāties |
atsastuot |
atsistoti |
| other, another |
cits |
cyts |
kitas |
| to pain |
sāpēt |
pierkšēt |
perštėti |
| scissors |
šķēres |
zirklis |
žirklės |
šķēres in Latvian is adapted from the German eine Schere, any native term has been lost |
History
The Latgalian language developed from the 18th century as a literary tradition based on vernaculars spoken by Latvians in the eastern part of
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
. The first surviving book published in Latgalian is "Evangelia toto anno" (
Gospels for the whole year) in 1753. The first systems of orthography were borrowed from
PolishPolish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
and used
AntiquaAntiqua typefaces are those designed between about 1470 and 1600, specifically those by Nicolas Jenson and the Aldine roman commissioned by Aldus Manutius and cut by Francesco Griffo. Antiqua letterforms were modelled on a synthesis of Roman inscriptional capitals and Carolingian writing...
letters. It was very different from the German-influenced orthography, usually written in
BlackletterBlackletter, also known as Gothic script or Gothic minuscule, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 to 1500. It continued to be used for the German language until the 20th century. Fraktur is a notable script of this type, and sometimes the entire group of faces is...
or Gothic script, used for the
Latvian languageLatvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
in the rest of
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
. Many Latgalian books in late 18th and early 19th century were authored by Jesuit priests, who came from various European countries to
LatgaleLatgalia or Latgale is one of the four cultural and historical regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Latvian Republic. It is the easternmost region north of the Daugava river...
as the north-eastern outpost of the Roman Catholic religion; their writings included religious literature, calendars and poetry.
Publishing books in the Latgalian language along with the
LithuanianLithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
was forbidden from 1865 to 1904. The ban on using Latin letters in this part of the
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
followed immediately after the
January UprisingThe January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
, where Polish insurgents in
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and also in
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
and
LatgaleLatgalia or Latgale is one of the four cultural and historical regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Latvian Republic. It is the easternmost region north of the Daugava river...
, challenged the czarist rule. During the ban, only a limited number of smuggled Catholic religious texts and some hand-written literature was available, e.g. calendars written by the self-educated peasant Andryvs Jūrdžys.
After the repeal of the ban in 1904 there was a quick rebirth of the Latgalian literary tradition; first newspapers, textbooks and grammars appeared. In 1918
LatgaleLatgalia or Latgale is one of the four cultural and historical regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Latvian Republic. It is the easternmost region north of the Daugava river...
became part of the newly created Latvian state. From 1920 to 1934 the two literary traditions of Latvians developed in parallel. A notable achievement during this period was the original translation of the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
into Latgalian by the priest and scholar Aloizijs Broks, published in
AglonaAglona is a village in Aglona municipality, Latvia. It is located 40 kilometers northeast of the city of Daugavpils. Aglona is famous in Latvia and beyond for its basilica — the most important Catholic church in the country — which was once visited by Pope John Paul II, and which attracts...
in 1933. After the coup staged by
Kārlis UlmanisKārlis Vilhelms Augusts Ulmanis was a prominent Latvian politician in pre-World War II Latvia during the Latvian period of independence from 1918 to 1940.- Education and early career :Ulmanis studied agriculture at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and at Leipzig University,...
in 1934, the subject of the Latgalian dialect was removed from the school curriculum and was invalidated for use in state institutions; this was as part of an effort to standardize Latvian language usage. Latgalian survived as a spoken language during the
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
annexation of Latvia (1940-1991) while printed literature in Latgalian virtually ceased between 1959 and 1989. Some Latgalian intellectuals in emigration continued to publish books and studies of the Latgalian language, most notably Mikeļs Bukšs, see
bibliography.
Since the restoration of
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
n independence there has been a noticeable increase of interest about the Latgalian language and cultural heritage. It is taught as an optional subject in some universities; in
RēzekneRēzekne is a city in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia, also known by the nickname Latgales sirds meaning The Heart of Latgale. Built on seven hills, Rēzekne is situated 242 km east of Riga, and 63 km west of the Latvian-Russian border, at the intersection of the Moscow – Riga and...
the
"Latgales kultūras centra izdevniecība" (Publishing House of Latgalian Culture Centre) led by
Jānis Elksnis, prints both old and new books in Latgalian.
Classification
Latgalian is a member of the Eastern Baltic branch of the
BalticThe Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...
group of languages included in the family of
Indo-European languagesThe Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major languages of Europe, Iran, and northern India, and historically also predominant in Anatolia and Central Asia...
. The branch also includes
LatvianLatvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
,
SamogitianSamogitian is a dialect of the Lithuanian language spoken mostly in Samogitia . Certain attempts have been made to standardize it...
and
LithuanianLithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
). Latgalian is a moderately
inflectedIn grammar, inflection or inflexion is the way language modifies word forms to handle grammatical relations and relational categories such as tense, mood, voice, aspect , person, number , gender, case . Beside conjugation and declension there is comparison with its maximum category number of two In...
language; the number of
verbkalleah hit meIn syntax, a verb is a word that usually denotes an action , an occurrence , or a state of being . Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice...
and
nounIn linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition....
forms is characteristic of many other
BalticThe Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...
and
Slavic languagesThe Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
.
Geographic distribution
Latgalian is spoken by about 150,000 people, mainly in
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
; there are small Latgalian-speaking communities in
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
,
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
.
Official status
Between 1920 and 1934 Latgalian was used in local government and education in
LatgaleLatgalia or Latgale is one of the four cultural and historical regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Latvian Republic. It is the easternmost region north of the Daugava river...
. Now Latgalian is not used as an official language anywhere in Latvia. It is formally protected by the
Latvian Language Law stating that "The Latvian State ensures the preservation, protection and development of the Latgalian literary language as a historical variant of the Latvian language" (§3.4). There is a state-supported orthography commission of the Latgalian language. Whether the Latgalian language is a separate language or a
dialectThe term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by scholars of language. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other...
of
LatvianLatvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
has been a matter of heated debate throughout the 20th century. Proponents of Latgalian such as linguists Antons Breidaks and Lidija Leikuma have suggested Latgalian has the characteristics of an independent language; one should note that in Latvian, Latgalian itself is generally referred to as an
izloksne (dialect) and not a
valoda (language).
Dialects
Latgalian speakers can be classified into three main groups - Northern, Central and Southern. These three groups of local accents are entirely mutually intelligible and characterized only by minor changes in vowels, diphthongs and some inflexion endings. The regional accents of central Latgale (such as those spoken in the towns and rural municipalities of Juosmuiža, Vuorkova, Vydsmuiža, Viļāni, Sakstygols, Ūzulaine, Makašāni, Drycāni, Gaigalova, Bierži, Tiļža and Nautrāni) form the phonetical basis of the modern standard Latgalian language. The literature of 18th century was more influenced by the Southern accents of Latgalian.
External links