Livonian language

Livonian (Līvõ kēļ) belongs to the Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. It is a moribund language now spoken by some 35 people, of whom only 10 are fluent. It is related to Finnish, spoken on the other side of the Gulf of Finland, and (more closely) to Estonian. The native land of the Livonian people is Livonia, located in Latvia, north of the Kurzeme peninsula. Some ethnic Livonians are learning or have learnt the language in an attempt to revive it, but, as ethnic Livonians are a small minority, opportunities to use Livonian are limited.

The Livonian alphabet is a hybrid which mixes Latvian and Estonian orthography.

Livonian alphabet:

A/a, Ā/ā, Ä/ä, Ǟ/ǟ, B/b, D/d, Ḑ/ḑ, E/e, Ē/ē, F/f, G/g, H/h, I/i, Ī/ī, J/j, K/k, L/l, Ļ/ļ, M/m, N/n, Ņ/ņ, O/o, Ō/ō, Template:Latinx, Template:Latinx, Õ/õ, Template:Latinx, P/p, R/r, Ŗ/ŗ, S/s, Š/š, T/t, Template:Latinx, U/u, Ū/ū, V/v, Z/z, Ž/ž

Phonology

Vowels

Livonian has 8 vowels:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i /i/	õ /ɨ/	u /u/
Near-close			ȯ /ʊ/
Mid	e /ɛ/	[ə]1	o /o/
Open	ä /æ/		a /ɑ/

1. Unstressed /ɨ/ is realized as [ə].

All vowels can be long or short. Short vowels are written as indicated in the table; long vowels are written with an additional macron ("¯") over the letter, so, for example, [æː] = ǟ. The Livonian vowel system is notable for having a stød similar to Danish. As in other languages with this feature, it is thought to be a vestige of an earlier pitch accent.

Consonants

Livonian has 23 consonants:

		Labial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m /m/	n /n/	ņ /ɲ/	[ŋ]1
Plosive	voiceless	p /p/	t /t̪/	ț /c/	k /k/
	voiced	b /b/	d /d̪/	ḑ /ɟ/	g /ɡ/
Fricative	voiceless	f /f/	s /s/	š /ʃ/		h /h/
	voiced	v /v/	z /z/	ž /ʒ/
Trill			r /r/	ŗ /rʲ/
Approximant	Central			j /j/
	Lateral		l /l/	ļ /ʎ/

/n/ becomes [ŋ] preceding /k/ or /ɡ/.

Grammar

Main article: Livonian grammar

History

In the 19th century, about 2,000 people still spoke Livonian; in 1852, the number of Livonians was 2394 (Ariste 1981: 78). Various historical events have led to the near total language death of Livonian:

• In the 13th century, speakers of Livonian numbered 30,000 (Schätzung Vääri, 1966).
• The German invasion: around the year 1200, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the Teutonic knights conquered Livonia, leading to contention of rule of the area between these orders and the Archbishopric of Riga.
• 1522: The introduction of the Reformation. Courland was annexed to Denmark.
• 1557: The Russian invasion.
• 1558-1583: Livonian War. Russians, Swedes, Danes, Lithuanians and Poles fought over the area.
• 1721: The Treaty of Nystad. Livonia and Courland became provinces of Tsarist Russia.
• 1918: The founding of Latvia; the Livonian language re-blossomed.
• World War II and Soviet Union: Marginalization of Livonian.

Language contacts with Latvians and Estonians

Livonian has been - for centuries - thoroughly influenced by Latvian in terms of grammar, phonology and word derivation etc. It is worthy of mention, that especially from the end of the 19th century on there were also many contacts with Estonians, namely, between (Kurzeme) Livonian fishers or mariners and the Estonians from Saaremaa or other islands. Many inhabitants of the islands of Western Estonia went to work in summer to the villages of the Kurzeme Livonians. As a result, the knowledge of Estonian spread among those Livonians and words of Estonian origin also came into Livonian. (Ariste 1981: 79)

Common phrases

• Hello! – Tēriņtš!
• Bon Appetit - Jõvvõ sīemnaigõ!
• Good morning! - Jõvā ūomõg! / Jõvvõ ūomõgt!
• Good day! - Jõvā pǟva! / Jõvvõ päuvõ!
• Thank you! - Tienū!
• Happy new year! - Vȯndzist Ūdāigastõ!
• die - kȭlmä
• one – ikš
• two – kakš
• three – kuolm
• four – nēļa
• five – vīž
• six – kūž
• seven – seis
• eight – kōdõks
• nine – īdõks
• ten – kim

Written language example

Mustā plagā valsõ

Kubbõ āt tuļ immõr satunnõd mingizt.

Mustā lupāt um vȯrd tutkām jūs.

Nǟlgalizt nīelõb min mȯistõmõt rõkūd

Sigžtūļ käds ikš dadžā ja ūgõb.

Mitikš äb tō ku sa kēratõkst pǟgiñ:

Um jõvīst, až sāina pǟl kēratõd "A".

Võid stalažod arrõ, až sainõ äb sȭita -

Ma vāgiž set kītõb, ku jõvīst tīed sa

Ja tikkiž ja tegīž um lagtõd sin tōmi

Sīest, mis sinnõn tīemõst ja mis sinā võid.

Až suggõbõd suodād ja revolūtsijõd,

Siz nustām sīes pāikal. Pǟdõ ka mēg.

Až nai ikškõrd vāldiž ka mäddõn tīeb sillõ.

Īezõ palābõd sīlmad, kus pīegiļtiz irm.

Siz grumā touvõd mäd' āndabõd villõ

Ja kõzzist pīkstõbõd pimdõd joud.

Ni īdskubs himnõ mēg lōlam īe pierrõ,

Sīest mēḑi ta kāitsõb ja sīnda ka tōks.

Sīest lōlam mēg: "Julgizt ni, veļīd, tīe jūrõ!"

Täuds sidāms oppõrmīel põrāndõks.

Leb Valst āigastsadā võilõb se kāngaz,

Mustā ku loptõmõt mōīlmarūim.

Kuñš īebõd pandõkst, kūoḑõd ja kuodād,

Täddõn nagrõs muidlõb kūolõn pǟlū.

Lyrics by Tõnu Trubetsky

Translated by Valt Ernštreit

See also

• Min izāmō – The national anthem of the Livonians
• Tulli Lum - A music group with a Livonian singer

Bibliography

• Fanny de Siviers. 2000. Parlons Live: une langue de la Baltique. Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 2-7475-1337-8. Template:Fr icon
• Paul Ariste 1981. Keelekontaktid. Tallinn: Valgus. [pt. 2.6. Kolme läänemere keele hääbumine lk. 76 - 82] Template:Et icon
• Lauri Kettunen. 1999. Livisches Wörterbuch : mit grammatischer Einleitung. Helsinki: Finno-Ugrian Society. Template:De icon

External links

• Virtual Livonia
• Ethnologue report
• Latvian-Livonian-English Dictionary