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| {{CountrySidebar | | {{Latvia-sidebar}} |
| |Country=Latvia
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| |Name=Latvia
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| |Type=Topic
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| |Topic Type=Background
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| |Background=Languages
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| |Rating=Standardized
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| }}{{breadcrumb | |
| | link1=[[Latvia Genealogy|Latvia]] | | | link1=[[Latvia Genealogy|Latvia]] |
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| | link5=[[Latvia Languages|Languages]] | | | link5=[[Latvia Languages|Languages]] |
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| ==Description==
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| *The sole official language of Latvia is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvian_language '''Latvian'''].
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| *Another notable language of Latvia is the nearly extinct [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latgalian_language '''Latgalian'''] – as a dialect of Latvian and is a historical variation of the Latvian language.<br>
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_language '''Russian'''], which was widely spoken during the Soviet period, is still the most widely used minority language by far (in 2011, 34% spoke it at home, including people who were not ethnically Russian).
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| *While it is now required that all school students learn '''Latvian''', schools also include '''English''', [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language '''German'''], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language '''French'''] and '''Russian''' in their curricula.
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| *'''English''' is also widely accepted in Latvia in business and tourism.
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| *As of 2014 there were 109 schools for minorities that use '''Russian''' as the language of instruction (27% of all students) for 40% of subjects (the remaining 60% of subjects are taught in '''Latvian'''). <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Latvia," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvia#Language, accessed 26 October 2021.</ref>
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| ==Word List(s)==
| | Latvian belongs to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family and is related to Lithuanian. It was written in the Gothic script until the early 20th century when Roman script was adopted. While ethnic Latvians obviously speak their mother tongue, only a quarter of the ethnic Russian minority are fluent in Latvian. |
| Other useful word lists:
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| *[[Polish Genealogical Word List]]
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| *[[Latin Genealogical Word List]]
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| '''Latvian'''
| | Latvian records were written in a variety of different languages. Lutheran records were mostly recorded in German, while both Greek and Roman Catholic records were written in Latin or Polish. Russian was also prevalent in church records of all faiths towards the late 1800s and early 1900s. Revision lists and the 1897 Census are primarily in Russian, but German and Latvian can occur. After Latvian independence was achieved in 1920, Latvian became the language of the records.<ref name="profile">The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Family History Record Profile: Latvia,” Word document, private files of the FamilySearch Content Strategy Team, 1995-2002.</ref> |
| *[[Latvian Genealogical Word List]]
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| *[https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/latvian.php Useful Latvian phrases (Omniglot)]
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latgalian_language#Language_examples Latgalian and Latvian phrasebook (Wikipedia)]
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| '''Latgalian'''
| | For word lists and translation help in pre-1920 Latvian records, see: |
| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latgalian_language#Language_examples Latgalian and Latvian phrasebook (Wikipedia)]
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| '''Russian'''
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| *[[Russian Genealogical Word List]] | | *[[Russian Genealogical Word List]] |
| *[https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/russian.php Useful Russian phrases (Omniglot)]
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| '''German'''
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| *[[German Genealogical Word List]] | | *[[German Genealogical Word List]] |
| *[https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/german.php Useful German phrases (Omniglot)] | | *[[Polish Genealogical Word List]] |
| | *[[Latin Genealogical Word List]] |
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| '''French'''
| | For word lists and translation help in post-1920 Latvian records, see: |
| *[[French Genealogical Word List]]
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| *[https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/french.php Useful French phrases (Omniglot)]
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| ==Alphabet and Pronunciation==
| | *[[Latvian Genealogical Word List]] |
| '''Latvian'''
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvian_phonology Latvian phonology (Wikipedia)]
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvian_orthography#Alphabet Latvian alphabet (Wikipedia)]
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| *[https://omniglot.com/writing/latvian.htm Latvian Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)]
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| '''Latgalian'''
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latgalian_phonology Latgalian phonology (Wikipedia)]
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latgalian_language#Alphabet Latgalian alphabet (Wikipedia)]
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| *[https://omniglot.com/writing/latgalian.htm Latgalian Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)]
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| '''Russian'''
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_phonology Russian phonology (Wikipedia)]
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_alphabet Russian alphabet (Wikipedia)]
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| *[https://omniglot.com/writing/russian.htm Russian Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)]
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| '''German'''
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_German_phonology Standard German phonology (Wikipedia)]
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_orthography#Alphabet German alphabet (Wikipedia)]
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| *[https://omniglot.com/writing/german.htm German Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)]
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| '''French'''
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_phonology French phonology (Wikipedia)]
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| *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_orthography#Alphabet French alphabet (Wikipedia)]
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| *[https://www.omniglot.com/writing/french.htm French Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)]
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| ==Language Aids and Dictionaries==
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| '''Latvian'''
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| *[https://glosbe.com/en/lv English to Latvian Dictionary (Glosbe)] | |
| *[http://mylanguages.org/learn_latvian.php Learn Latvian (My Languages)]
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| '''Latgalian'''
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| *[https://glosbe.com/en/ltg English to Latgalian Dictionary (Glosbe)]
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| *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om8TxjEwPHU The Sound of the Latgalian language (YouTube)]
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| '''Russian'''
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| *[[Russian Letter Writing Guide]]
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| *[https://glosbe.com/en/ru English to Russian Dictionary (Glosbe)]
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| *[https://www.duolingo.com/course/ru/en/Learn-Russian Learn Russian in just 5 minutes (duolingo)]
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| *[https://www.babbel.com/learn-russian Learn Russian (Babbel)]
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| '''German'''
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| *[[German Letter Writing Guide]]
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| *[https://en.glosbe.com/en/de English to German Dictionary (Glosbe)]
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| *[https://www.duolingo.com/course/de/en/Learn-German Learn German in just 5 minutes (duolingo)]
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| *[https://www.germanpod101.com/ Learn German (GermanPod101)]
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| '''French'''
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| *[[French Letter Writing Guide]]
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| *[https://en.glosbe.com/en/fr English to French Dictionary (Glosbe)]
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| *[https://www.duolingo.com/course/fr/en/Learn-French Learn French in just 5 minutes (duolingo)]
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| *[https://www.babbel.com/learn-french Learn French (Babbel)]
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| ==Additional Resources==
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| * Kalnins, Mara. ''Latvia : a short history.'' London, New York, NY: Hurst & Company, 2015. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/938018031 WorldCat].
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| * Sarkanis, Alberts. ''Latviešu valodas dialektu atlants. Fonētika = The Atlas of the Latvian dialects : phonetics.'' Latvian: Latvijas Universitātes Latviešu Valodas Institūts, Rīga, 2013. '''''Available at:''''' [https://www.worldcat.org/title/859169298 WorldCat].
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| *[https://wikitravel.org/en/Latvia Latvia (Wikitravel)]
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| ==References== | | ==References== |
