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Latvian Language and Culture through the Ages

Latvian Language and Culture through the Ages. Dace Prauli ņš d.praulins@lbss.gla.ac.uk. Outline. Brief introduction Origins of Baltic languages and history of Latvian language to the present day Features of Latvian language Cultural heritage – folk songs, folk tales, beliefs, etc.

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Latvian Language and Culture through the Ages

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  1. Latvian Language and Culture through the Ages Dace Prauliņš d.praulins@lbss.gla.ac.uk

  2. Outline • Brief introduction • Origins of Baltic languages and history of Latvian language to the present day • Features of Latvian language • Cultural heritage – folk songs, folk tales, beliefs, etc.

  3. Number of Latvian speakers • About 1.4 million native speakers in Latvia • About 150 000 native speakers abroad either exiled in 1944 or emigrated from Latvia more recently to find work • Total number of Latvian speakers slightly exceeds 2 million – includes all for whom Latvian is a second language • Only about 250 languages which are spoken by more than 1 million people in the world

  4. Ethnic composition of Latvia • Latvians 58.6% • Russians 28.8% • Belarussians 3.9% • Ukrainians 2.6% • Polish 2.5% • Lithuanians 1.4% • Others 2.2%

  5. Contact with other languages • Liv, Estonian, Lithuanian, Belorussian, Russian neighbouring languages • Russian, Polish, Swedish, German have been languages of cultural exchange and official transactions • Latin in Catholic religious ceremonies • From Middle Ages to the early 20th century German was dominant in education, science and administration – about 3000 borrowings from German in Latvian

  6. Indo-European languages

  7. Early settlers and Baltic groups • Earliest hunter-gatherers arrived 10 – 12 thousand years ago – following reindeer • More than 4000 years ago Finno-Ugric groups settled – Livs and Estonians are descendants • Proto-Baltic groups arrived in early 2000 BC – first in south, then also central and eastern parts • First split into Eastern (Prussians, Couronians, etc.) and Western (Lettgallians, Lithuanians, etc.) Balts

  8. Area of Baltic river names

  9. Latvian and Lithuanian • Split between Latvian and Lithuanian happened between the 1st -5th centuries and the 7th century AD • Tribes in the north had more contact with Finno-Ugric tribes, those in the south had more contact with Slav tribes – these influences caused split • It is thought that Lithuanian remained more archaic than Latvian because Slav languages also Indo-European and therefore there were more similarities

  10. Baltic tribes & provinces c. AD 1200

  11. Regions in Latvia today

  12. Beginnings of Latvian language • Latvian thought to be based mainly on languages spoken by Latgallians and Semigallians • Couronian and Selonian languages extinct before they could be documented but leave traces in place names and dialects • Descendants of Livs also retained features in dialect, also in place names, e.g. –aži, -iži; first syllable stress in Latvian may be of Liv origin

  13. Early language standardisation • Latvian not written down until 16th century • Authors of first books were Baltic German clergy writing religious works in Latvian following Reformation • First printed text in Latvian appeared in 1525 • Among first books preserved until today are a Catholic Catechism (1585) and an Evangelical Catechism (1586) • First dictionary – 1638; first grammar – 1644: German clergymen G. Manzelius and J.G. Rehehusen

  14. Luther’s small catechism - 1586

  15. First bible translated by J. E. Glück, published in Rīga in 1689

  16. National awakening • Early 19th century - powerful “awakening” of national identity – first newspapers printed and active cultural development • Status of Baltic languages also changed – Baltic German nobility had regarded them as “rural languages” • End of 19th century – Jaunlatvieši (new Latvians) demanded same rights enjoyed by other nations - Latvians took over research and standardisation of language – many press publications and books

  17. First newspaper – January 1822

  18. Latvian Newspaper 1824; St. Petersburg Newspaper 1862

  19. Atis Kronvalds ( 1837 – 1875) • Instrumental in changing script from Gothic to Latin and spelling which was originally based on Middle Low German • Introduced new words into language based on existing rules – about 100 still used • Also suggested preferred words where several existed

  20. Krišjānis Barons (1835–1923) • Promoter of Latvian national awakening • Collector, compiler and researcher of Latvian folk songs (dainas) • An editor of the Pēterburgas avīzes - anewspaper which was very prominent in the national awakening

  21. After World War II • In Latvia: Latvian and Russian bilingualism - language of state and its structures was Russian • Percentage of Latvian language users decreased because of immigration • Many studies of Latvian carried out by Commission of Terminology of the Latvian Academy of Sciences – grammar and dictionaries compiled • In exile: many Latvian schools which kept language and culture alive; also secondary school(ğimnāzija) in Münster, West Germany

  22. Language integration today • Main goal of language policy is integration of all citizens in context of Latvian as official language while protecting and developing minority languages • Many minorities have bilingual education with Latvian taught as a second language but Latvian being used more and more to teach core subjects; higher education only in Latvian • Now about 50% of non-Latvians have good – excellent language skills; only 10% – 12% have no Latvian (mainly elderly)

  23. Latvian alphabet and spelling • a, ā, b, c, č, d, e, ē, f, g, ģ, h, i, ī, j, k, ķ, l, ļ, m, n, ņ, o, p, r, s, š, t, u, ū, v, z, ž • One of the most perfect Latin script-based spelling systems – based on Czech • First books printed in the second half of 16th century used Gothic letters and based on spelling of Middle Low German • Gothic letters & German spelling principles used up to beginning of 20th century • 1908 – new orthography introduced but not fully used until 1920s

  24. Structural features of Latvian • Nouns have 6 cases: nominative, genitive, accusative, dative, locative, vocative • Verbs inflected for tense, mood, voice and person • System of derivational affixes, e.g. dot(give): atdot(give back), iedot(give with perfective meaning), padot(pass), pārdot(sell), izdot(spend) • Word order within clause relatively fluid • Stress generally on first syllable of each word – long vowel may occur in an unstressed syllable

  25. Oral traditions • Very rich collection - some 3 m - of folksongs (dainas), folk tales (pasakas), riddles (mīklas), proverbs and sayings (sakāmvārdi), beliefs (ticējumi) • Folk song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBsEO5zFYuE

  26. Dainas – folk songs • Not known how old they are – saved through oral tradition – probably sung • Censored at beginning of 13th century by Teutonic knights • Krišjānis Barons collected 218 000 in 8 volumes (1894 – 1915) – 35 000 primary + variations – his original notes and drawers shown in next slide • Folklore Archive now has about 1 m – “one daina for every Latvian” • Ecological, anti-war, matriarchal – talk about daily life, nature, courtship, etc.

  27. Dainu skapis (cupboard)

  28. Emilis Melngailis (1874 – 1954) • Musician, composer and choir conductor • Collected folk song texts and melodies on expeditions through countryside

  29. Prof. Pēteris Šmits (1869 – 1938) • Collected folk tales in 15 volumes, first published 1925 – 1937; categorised according to subject: animals, magic, jokes, tales with a moral, etc. • Also collected 36 790 beliefs, first published in 1940 - 1941

  30. Folk beliefs • Katru lielāku darbu iesākjaunā mēnesī un laimīgās dienās;vai nu otrdienā, ceturtdienā jebsestdienā.Every big task should be started when there is a new moon and on lucky days; either on a Tuesday, a Thursday or a Saturday. • Ja kaķis pārskrien no labās uz kreiso pusi pārceļu, tad ir laime, bet ja no kreisās uz labo, tadir nelaime. If a cat crosses your path from right to left, you will have good luck, bet if it’s from left to right, then you will have bad luck.

  31. Proverbs and sayings • Ja upei dibena neredzi, tad nebrien iekšā. If you can’t see the bottom of the river, don’t wade in. Look before you leap. • Ciemos labi, bet mājās vēl labāk. It’s good to go visiting, but it’s even better to be at home. There’s no place like home.

  32. Riddles • Liela, zila pļava, pilna zelta aitiņu un ganiņš vidū. A large blue field full of small golden sheep and a young shepherd in the middle. (Sky) • Liels kalns; caur to kalnu divi tuneli, caur tiem, tuneļiem skrien vējš aurodams.A large hill with two tunnels running through; the wind roars through these tunnels. (Nose)

  33. References - books • Dini, P. U. (2000) Baltu Valodas (Baltic languages). Roze • Gimbutas, M. (1963) The Balts. Thames and Hudson • Ķēniņš, I. (2005) Latvija Gadsimtu Lokos. I.Aizvēsture un Senvēsture (Latvia through the centuries. I. Pre-history and ancient history). Raka • Ķēniņš, I. (2005) Latvija Gadsimtu Lokos. II.Viduslaiki 13. -15. Gadsimts (Latvia through the centuries. II Middle ages 13th – 15th centuries). Raka • Plakans, A. (1995) The Latvians. A Short History. Hoover • Vīķe-Freiberga, V. (2005) Saules Balsi. LatvianSun Song Melodies. Karogs (The three folksongs with music taken from this book)

  34. References - websites • http://www.ailab.lv/ai1/kultura.htm (culture) • http://www.ailab.lv/pasakas/ (folk tales) • http://www.ailab.lv/ticejumi/default.htm (beliefs) • http://www.dainuskapis.lv/ (folksongs) • http://www.li.lv/ (Latvian Institute) • http://www.pbla.lv/izglitiba/miklas/miklas.htm (riddles) • http://www.vaidilute.com/books/gimbutas/gimbutas-contents.html (M. Gimbutas’ book The Balts download)

  35. References - illustrations • Indo-European language family tree: http://www.intersolinc.com/newsletters/Language_Tree.htm • Baltic tribes + provinces; area of Baltic river names: http://www.vaidilute.com/books/gimbutas/gimbutas-01.html • Luther’s small catechism, first Bible and its translator, Latvian newspapers: http://www.li.lv/images_new/files/pdf/History_of_Latvia_2007.pdf • Atis Kronvalds: http://www.lu.lv/aktualitates/index.html?id=1627 • Krišjānis Barons: http://data.lnb.lv/digitala_biblioteka/atklatnes/Portreti/Latviski/008.htm • Emilis Melngailis: http://www.liis.lv/muzika/komponisti/Emilis_Melngailis/index.php?id=7 • Šmits: http://www5.acadlib.lv/PVP/0000000127.htm • Dainu skapis: http://www.lza.lv/lat/inst/LFK/dskapis.html • Latvian regions: http://www.li.lv/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=413

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