The Latvian language alphabet: a perfect guide to the Latvian language for beginners
When you start to learn a foreign language, there is always intrigue. How is this language formed, what are its letters and sounds. How does the spelling differ a lot or just a little from the pronunciation? Are there any letters that are specific to this language only? The Latvian language is not an exception. Let’s dive into a wonderful world of the Latvian alphabet and its history.
Spread of the Latvian language in the world
Take the first step in learning the little-known Latvian language. Let’s open the curtain and introduce this Indo-European language. It belongs to the tree of the two alive Baltic languages, spoken by about 1.5 million people. About 1.38 million people speak it in Latvia, while the rest of the speakers are spread across different countries. Latvian expats speak and learn Lanvian in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Lithuania, Russia, Sweden, and USA. Emigrations at different times caused it.
The history of the Latvian written language: how the Latvian alphabet started and evolved
Popular sources often say that Latvian and Lithuanian are very ancient Baltic languages. The direct descendants of the Proto-Indo-European language, which has a lot in common with Sanskrit. To a certain extent, this is true. However, the Latvian language in its current sound has emerged from several languages of ancient Baltic tribes. These tribes lived in a large area on the territory of present-day Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Poland. But their languages existed only in oral form.
The first written sources in Latvian appeared at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, after the German nobles had already subdued the Baltic tribes. German priests created the Latvian written language using the German 16th-century alphabet and grammar rules, which did not effectively reproduce the pronunciation of the Latvian language.
From the Middle Ages to the end of the 19th century, the Latvians printed texts primarily featured a special type of Latin alphabet letters known as “Gothic letters” or Fraktur, which was also widely used in German and Swedish printed works. However, in manuscripts, people used the usual Latin alphabet or Antiqua with rounded letters.
The Latvian alphabet unveiled: Old Latvian orthography
Georg Mancelius (1593-1654), a Baltic German Lutheran theologian, introduced a certain system in the written notation of Latvian sounds. He created the so-called “Old Latvian orthography”, which was a big step toward the current Latvian alphabet, but this orthography was still not completely convenient for labeling Latvian sounds. However, people used it until the middle of the 19th century, when the reformation of the Latvian writing style began alongside the national revival movement of the ‘Young Latvians’ (Jaunlatviešu kustība).
The founders of Latvian national literature and linguistics, Juris Alunāns, Atis Kronvalds, and Kaspars Biezbārdis, supported the proposal of the doctor Juris Bārs, to use Latin letters – Antiqua – also in printed works. However, it did not completely replace the old Gothic print until the 1930s.
The orthography reform: the development of the Latvian alphabet
In 1908, Latvian linguists K. Mīlenbachs and J. Endzelīns led the development of an orthography reform project. They introduced the consonants š, ž, c, č, v, ļ, ņ, and ŗ, as well as the diphthongs dz and dž into the alphabet, giving them their current form. They also added a horizontal line above letters to indicate vowel length and changed the notation of the diphthong ie (formerly ee), along with making other improvements.
Unfortunately, people did not put the new writing into real use until several years later due to the outbreak of the First World War. It became legally mandatory in 1919, but only practically stabilized in the 1930s. Until 1946, Latvians used the soft ŗ, the long vowel ō, and the letter set ch for the sound [h] in the alphabet. When they stopped using these characters, the Latvian alphabet took on the appearance we know today with 33 letters.
However, even later, Latvians in exile continued to use the soft ŗ and the long vowel ō in their publications, and since the beginning of the 1990s, some publishing houses in Latvia have also included them in their texts.
The flaws and imperfections of today’s Latvian alphabet
- One letter O denotes three sounds: diphthong [ua̯], short vowel [ɔ], and long [ɔ ː].
- One letter E denotes two sounds – narrow and wide short [e], [æ].
- One letter Ē denotes two sounds – narrow and wide long [e ː], [ æ ː].
So, the Latvian alphabet it is!
There are 33 letters in the modern Latvian alphabet. They are divided into short and long vowels, voiced and unvoiced consonants, as well as there are several diphthongs in the Latvian language (they are not reflected in the alphabet).
Short vowels: a, e, i, o, u.
Long vowels: ā, ē, ī, ū.
Voiced consonants: b, d, g, ģ, j, l, ļ, m, n, ņ, r, v, z, ž.
Voiceless consonants: c, č, f, h, k, k, p, s, š, t.
Diphthongs: ai, au, ei , ie , o, ui , dz , dž .
How these letters follow each other, and how to name and pronounce them – see the following table.
| Letter | Title | SFA (IPA) | Letter | Title | SFA (IPA) | Letter | Title | SFA (IPA) |
| A, a | a | /ɑ/ as in: but | H, h | hā | /h/ as in who | O, o | o | /ua̯/in the words of Latvian origin /o/, /oː/ in international words |
| Ā, ā | garais ā long [a:] | /ɑː/ as in father | I, i | i | /i/ as in grid | P, p | pē | /p/ as in absent |
| B, b | bē | /b/ as in Lebanon | Ī, ī | garais ī long [i:] | /iː/ as in me | R, r | er | /r/, (seldom/rʲ/)rolling sound |
| C, c | cē | /ts/ as in Let’s | J, j | jē | /j/ as in York, yolk | S, s | es | /s/ as in see |
| Č, č | čē | /tʃ/ as in cherry | K, k | kā | /k/ as in breaking | Š, š | eš | /ʃ/ as in she |
| D, d | dē | /d/ as in denim | Ķ, ķ | ķē | /tʲ/ try quickly say /t/+/j/ | T, t | tē | /t/ as in matter US English |
| E, e | e | /e/, /æ/ as in: red, cat | L, l | el | /l/ as in label | U, u | u | /u/ as in bull |
| Ē, ē | garais ē long [e:] | /eː/,/æː/ as in: Do-Re-Mi, Saturday US English | Ļ, ļ | eļ | /ʎ/ try quickly say /l/+/j/ | Ū, ū | garais ū long [u:] | /uː/ as in moon, rule |
| F, f | ef | /f/ as in flat | M, m | em | /m/ as in mum | V, v | vē | /v/ as in visit |
| G, g | gā | /g/ as in go | N, n | en | /n/ as in nunny, /ŋ/ as in king | Z, z | zē | /z/ as in his |
| Ģ, ģ | ģē | /ɟ/ try quickly say /d/+/j/ | Ņ, ņ | eņ | /ɲ/ as in new | Ž, ž | žē | /ʒ/ as in vision |
Other sources for learning Latvian
Exciting and well-remembered, interesting and funny examples of the Latvian alphabet can be found on Anete Ģērmane’s YouTube channel:
Latvian alphabet Part 1, The Latvian alphabet Part 2, Latvian alphabet Part 3
See also other interesting stories about Latvian traditions and language on the same channel.
One of the most popular Latvian pop music performers, Renārs Kaupers, together with the band “Prāta Vētra” (“Brainstorm”), has composed a song for children about the Latvian alphabet “Joka pēc alfabēts”. Learn to name the entire alphabet in a fun way.
A wonderful animation clip for this song has been created at Film studio RIJA.
The most complete material for learning the Latvian language can be found on the website of the Latvian Language Agency.
Interested to know more about the alphabets of the world? Discover why Are There So Many Alphabets in the World’s Languages.
One of the most frequently asked questions about the Latvian alphabet is: Is it like Russian?
Find the answer to this question in our article about the Russian alphabet and you can compare them to see that they are absolutely different.
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