Livonian language: Difference between revisions

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	{{Infobox Language		{{Infobox Language
	\|name = Livonian		\|name = Livonian
	\|nativename = Līvõ kēļ		\|nativename = {{lang\|liv\|Līvõ kēļ}}
	\|familycolor = Uralic		\|familycolor = Uralic
	\|states = ]		\|states = ]
	\|region = ] (])		\|region = ] (])
	\|~~speakers~~ = ~~Less~~ ~~than~~ ~~150~~<ref> Livonian is listed as “critically endangered” in the latest atlas of endangered languages compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - </ref>		\|extinct = ] ], when ] died.<ref>Livonian is listed as “critically endangered” in the latest atlas of endangered languages compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - </ref>
	\|fam2 = ]		\|fam2 = ]
	\|fam3 = ]		\|fam3 = ]
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	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 Estonian newspaper '']'' announced that ], the last native speaker who started the Latvian-language school as a monolingual, died on 28 February 2009. An article published by the Foundation for Endangered Languages in 2007 stated that there were only 182 registered Livonians and a mere six native speakers.		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 Estonian newspaper '']'' announced that ], the last native speaker who started the Latvian-language school as a monolingual, died on 28 February 2009. An article published by the Foundation for Endangered Languages in 2007 stated that there were only 182 registered Livonians and a mere six native speakers.

	The promotion of the Livonian language as a living language has been advanced mostly by ] (''Līvõ Kultūr Sidām''), an organisation of mostly young ]. Livonian as a ] in Latvia – along with ] – is represented by the ] (LatBLUL), a national branch of the ] (EBLUL).		The promotion of the Livonian language as a living language has been advanced mostly by ] (''{{lang\|liv\|Līvõ Kultūr Sidām}}''), an organisation of mostly young ]. Livonian as a ] in Latvia – along with ] – is represented by the ] (LatBLUL), a national branch of the ] (EBLUL).

	As a second language, Livonian has about 20 speakers in Latvia.{{Atlas UNESCO\|Latvia}} However, the language is taught in universities in Latvia, Estonia and Finland, which constantly increases the pool of second-language speakers who do not constantly reside in Latvia.		As a second language, Livonian has about 20 speakers in Latvia.{{Atlas UNESCO\|Latvia}} However, the language is taught in universities in Latvia, ] and ], which constantly increases the pool of second-language speakers who do not constantly reside in Latvia.

	== Phonology ==		== Phonology ==

Revision as of 17:30, 25 May 2009

Livonian
Līvõ kēļ
Native to	Latvia
Region	Livonia (Livonian Coast)
Extinct	28 February 2009, when Viktor Berthold died.
Language family	Uralic Finno-Ugric Finno-Lappic Baltic-Finnic Livonian
Language codes
ISO 639-2	`fiu (Other Finno-Ugric languages)`
ISO 639-3	`liv`
ELP	Livonian

Livonian (Līvõ kēļ or rāndakēļ) 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. The native land of the Livonian people is Livonia, located in Latvia, in the 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 Estonian newspaper Eesti Päevaleht announced that Viktor Berthold, the last native speaker who started the Latvian-language school as a monolingual, died on 28 February 2009. An article published by the Foundation for Endangered Languages in 2007 stated that there were only 182 registered Livonians and a mere six native speakers.

The promotion of the Livonian language as a living language has been advanced mostly by Livonian Cultural Centre (Līvõ Kultūr Sidām), an organisation of mostly young Livonians. Livonian as a lesser used language in Latvia – along with Latgalian – is represented by the Latvian Bureau of Lesser Used Languages (LatBLUL), a national branch of the European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL).

As a second language, Livonian has about 20 speakers in Latvia.Template:Atlas UNESCO However, the language is taught in universities in Latvia, Estonia and Finland, which constantly increases the pool of second-language speakers who do not constantly reside in Latvia.

Phonology

Vowels

Livonian has 8 vowels:

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

Unstressed /ɨ/ is realized as .

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, = 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/
Plosive	voiceless	p /p/	t /t̪/	ț /c/	k /k/
Plosive	voiced	b /b/	d /d̪/	ḑ /ɟ/	g /ɡ/
Fricative	voiceless	f /f/	s /s/	š /ʃ/		h /h/
Fricative	voiced	v /v/	z /z/	ž /ʒ/
Trill			r /r/	ŗ /rʲ/
Approximant	Central			j /j/
Approximant	Lateral		l /l/	ļ /ʎ/

/n/ becomes preceding /k/ or /ɡ/.

Alphabet

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

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

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

References

Livonian is listed as “critically endangered” in the latest atlas of endangered languages compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - Latvians on line
ed. György Nanovfszky: Nyelvrokonaink, Budapest, 2000.

Bibliography

Fanny de Sivers. 2001. Parlons live – Une langue de la Baltique. Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 2-7475-1337-8. Template:Fr icon
Paul Ariste 1981. Keelekontaktid. Tallinn: Valgus. Template:Et icon
Lauri Kettunen. 1938. Livisches Wörterbuch : mit grammatischer Einleitung. Helsinki: Finno-Ugrian Society. Template:De icon
Tooke, William (1799). View of the Russian Empire During the Reign of Catharine the Second, and to the Close of the Present Century. London: T. N. Longman, O. Rees, and J. Debrett. pp. pp. 523-527. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)