Latgalian language
Encyclopedia
Latgalian language can mean one of the following:
. 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 Polish
and used Antiqua letters. It was very different from the German-influenced orthography, usually written in Blackletter
or Gothic script, used for the Latvian language
in the rest of Latvia
. Many Latgalian books in late 18th and early 19th century were authored by Jesuit priests, who came from various European countries to Latgale
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 Lithuanian
was forbidden from 1865 to 1904. The ban on using Latin letters in this part of the Russian Empire
followed immediately after the January Uprising
, where Polish insurgents in Poland
, and also in Lithuania
and Latgale
, 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 Latgale
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 Testament
into Latgalian by the priest and scholar Aloizijs Broks, published in Aglona
in 1933. After the coup staged by Kārlis Ulmanis
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 Soviet
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 Latvia
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 Rēzekne
the "Latgales kultūras centra izdevniecība" (Publishing House of Latgalian Culture Centre) led by Jānis Elksnis, prints both old and new books in Latgalian.
group of languages included in the family of Indo-European languages
. The branch also includes Latvian
, Samogitian
and Lithuanian
). Latgalian is a moderately inflected
language; the number of verb
and noun
forms is characteristic of many other Baltic
and Slavic languages
(see Inflection in Baltic Languages).
; there are small Latgalian-speaking communities in Russia
, Siberia
.
. 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 dialect
of Latvian
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).
, but has two additional letters: y represents the phoneme [ɨ]), which is absent in standard Latvian. The letter ō survives from the pre-1957 Latvian orthography.
A brauciejam breinums, kai tuoli ceļš aizvess,
Tai vuorpsteite cīši pret sprāduoju paušās,
Jei naatteik – vacei gi dzejis gols zvaigznēs.
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 tēmēt,
A pruots rauga skaitejs pa rokstaudža zeimem,
Kai riedeits, kod saulei vēļ vaiņuku jēme.
(Poem of Armands Kūceņš)
The Lord's Prayer
in Latgalian:
Myusu Tāvs, kurs esi dabasūs,
slaveits lai tūp Tovs vōrds.
Lai atnōk Tova vaļsteiba.
Tova vaļa lai nūteik, kai dabasūs,
tai ari vērs zemes.
Myusu ikdīneiškū maizi dūd mums šudiņ.
Un atlaid mums myusu porōdus,
kai un mes atlaižam sovim porōdnīkim.
Un naved myusu kārdynōšonā,
bet izglōb myusus nu ļauna Amen.
- It was a language spoken by LatgaliansLatgaliansThe term Latgalians The term Latgalians The term Latgalians (Latgalian: latgalīši, latgali, (also spelt Latgallians and sometimes known as Lettigalls, Latgolans, or Lettigallians) can refer to the inhabitants of the Latgale region in eastern Latvia in general, the ethnic Latvians of Latgale...
in a great part of the area which is now LatviaLatviaLatvia , 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 , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. Latgalian was a member of the Baltic groupBaltic languagesThe Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of 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 familyIndo-European languagesThe Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
. Historically the Latvian languageLatvian 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 CuronianCuronian languageThe Curonian language or Old Curonian is an extinct language spoken by the Curonian tribe, who lived mainly on the Courland peninsula and along the nearby Baltic shores....
, SemigallianSemigalliansSemigallians were the Baltic tribe that lived in the southcentral part of contemporary Latvia and northern Lithuania...
and LivonianLivonian languageLivonian belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic languages. It is a nearly extinct language, with one of its last native speakers having died in February 2009. It is closely related to Estonian...
). - Nowadays it normally refers to a language spoken in LatgaleLatgaleLatgale is one of the four historical and cultural regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Latvian Republic. It is the easternmost region north of the Daugava River...
, the eastern part of LatviaLatviaLatvia , 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 , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. Sometimes it is referred to as a distinct separate language, while others consider it to be a dialect of LatvianLatvian 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...
. This modern Latgalian developed as a result of two main factors: LatgaliansLatgalians (modern)This article is about modern ethnic group of Latvians inhabiting or coming from Latgalia. For ancient Baltic people see Latgalians.In Latvian, latgalieši refers to the ethnic Latvians of Latgalia, which has been developing separately from the rest of ethnic Latvia until 1917.In Latgalian language,...
having preserved more features of the archaic (tribal) Latgalian language than the other LatviansLatviansLatvians or Letts are the indigenous Baltic people of Latvia.-History:Latvians 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 LatgaleLatgaleLatgale is one of the four historical and cultural 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 LatviaLatviaLatvia , 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 , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
.
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
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 , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with 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 Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
and used Antiqua letters. It was very different from the German-influenced orthography, usually written in Blackletter
Blackletter
Blackletter, also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 to well into the 17th century. It continued to be used for the German language until the 20th century. Fraktur is a notable script of this type, and sometimes...
or Gothic script, used for the Latvian language
Latvian language
Latvian 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 Latvia
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 , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. Many Latgalian books in late 18th and early 19th century were authored by Jesuit priests, who came from various European countries to Latgale
Latgale
Latgale is one of the four historical and cultural 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 Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian 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 Empire
Russian Empire
The 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 Uprising
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
, where Polish insurgents in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe 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 Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and Latgale
Latgale
Latgale is one of the four historical and cultural 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 Latgale
Latgale
Latgale is one of the four historical and cultural 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 Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
into Latgalian by the priest and scholar Aloizijs Broks, published in Aglona
Aglona
Aglona 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 Ulmanis
Karlis Ulmanis
Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms 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 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and...
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 Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
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 Latvia
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 , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with 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 Rēzekne
Rezekne
In the 19th century, the population of Rēzekne was 2/3 Jewish. As a result of the Pale of Settlement many Jews settled in Latgalia and were confined to the cities. The remainder of the population included Poles, Germans, Russians, and an extreme minority of native Latgalians...
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 BalticBaltic languages
The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of 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 languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
. The branch also includes Latvian
Latvian language
Latvian 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...
, Samogitian
Samogitian language
Samogitian is a dialect of the Lithuanian language spoken mostly in Samogitia . Attempts have been made to standardize it...
and Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian 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 inflected
Inflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
language; the number of verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
and noun
Noun
In 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 .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
forms is characteristic of many other Baltic
Baltic languages
The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...
and Slavic languages
Slavic languages
The 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...
(see Inflection in Baltic Languages).
Geographic distribution
Latgalian is spoken by about 150,000 people, mainly in LatviaLatvia
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 , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
; there are small Latgalian-speaking communities in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
.
Official status
Between 1920 and 1934 Latgalian was used in local government and education in LatgaleLatgale
Latgale is one of the four historical and cultural 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 dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a 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 factors,...
of Latvian
Latvian language
Latvian 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.Alphabet
The Latgalian language uses an alphabet with 35 letters. Its orthography is similar to Latvian orthographyLatvian orthography
Latvian orthography, historically, has used a system based upon German phonetic principles and the Latgalian dialect was written using Polish orthographic principles. The present-day orthography has been in use since 1908. Its basis is the Latin alphabet. For the most part it is phonetic in that it...
, but has two additional letters: y represents the phoneme [ɨ]), which is absent in standard Latvian. The letter ō survives from the pre-1957 Latvian orthography.
| Upper case | Lower case | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| A | a | [ɑ] |
| Ā | ā | [ɑː] |
| B | b | [b] |
| C | c | [t͡s] |
| Č | č | [t͡ʃ] |
| D | d | [d] |
| E | e | [e] |
| Ē | ē | [eː] |
| F | f | [f] |
| G | g | [ɡ] |
| Ģ | ģ | [ɟ] |
| H | h | [x] |
| I | i | [i] |
| Y | y | [ɨ] |
| Ī | ī | [iː] |
| J | j | [j] |
| K | k | [k] |
| Ķ | ķ | [c] |
| L | l | [l] |
| Ļ | ļ | [ʎ] |
| M | m | [m] |
| N | n | [n] |
| Ņ | ņ | [ɲ] |
| O | o | [o] |
| Ō | ō | [oː] |
| P | p | [p] |
| R | r | [r] |
| S | s | [s] |
| Š | š | [ʃ] |
| T | t | [t] |
| U | u | [u] |
| Ū | ū | [uː] |
| V | v | [v] |
| Z | z | [z] |
| Ž | ž | [ʒ] |
Language examples
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 zvaigznēs.
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 tēmēt,
A pruots rauga skaitejs pa rokstaudža zeimem,
Kai riedeits, kod saulei vēļ vaiņuku jēme.
(Poem of Armands Kūceņš)
The Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
in Latgalian:
Myusu Tāvs, kurs esi dabasūs,
slaveits lai tūp Tovs vōrds.
Lai atnōk Tova vaļsteiba.
Tova vaļa lai nūteik, kai dabasūs,
tai ari vērs zemes.
Myusu ikdīneiškū maizi dūd mums šudiņ.
Un atlaid mums myusu porōdus,
kai un mes atlaižam sovim porōdnīkim.
Un naved myusu kārdynōšonā,
bet izglōb myusus nu ļauna Amen.
| 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! | Esmu aizņemts šobrīd! | >- | Es tevi mīļoju! | Es tevi mīlu! | >- | Asu nu Latgolys. | Esmu no Latgales. | In Latvian, "esu" is short for "es esmu.") >- |
Es īšu da sātai. | 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. | I like to learn. (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).| 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 | atsacīt in Latvian means to reject, refuse (and to do it quickly and sharply) |
| to blunge | mīcīt | maidzeit | maigyti | |
| to catch a cold | saaukstēties | puorsaļt | peršalti | pārsalt in Latvian means to freeze overly (near death) |
| 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 found mainly in folk songs and poetry |
| to settle in | iekārtoties | īsataiseit | įsitaisyti | iesaistīties in Latvian means to join, to engage |
| 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, respectively, of the household |
| homeland ("fatherland") | tēvija, tēvzeme | tāvaine | tėvynė | |
| east | rīti | reiti | rytai | "mornings" in Latvian, more commonly austrumi meaning toward the rising of the sun |
| west | vakari | vokori | vakarai | "evenings" in Latvian, more commonly rietumi meaning 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 die Schere, dzirkles refers to shears |
External links
- Latvian–Latgalian Dictionary
- The Two Literary Traditions of Latvians
- Some facts about Latgalian language
- The Grammar of Latgalian Language (in Latvian, PDF document)
- "Aglyunas Zvaneņš" – a Catholic weekly (in Latgalian)
- Latgalian folk music
- Community portal latgola.lv
- Latgalian Language at Latgale Research Center
- "Forgetting Latgalian" – A Survey on Language Status
- Publishing House of Latgalian Culture Centre