Livonian language
From Free net encyclopedia
{{language |name=Livonian |nativename=Līvõ kēļ |familycolor=Uralic |states=Latvia |region=Livonia |speakers=Less than 150 |fam2=Finno-Ugric |fam3=Finno-Lappic |fam4=Baltic-Finnic |iso2=fiu (Other Finno-Ugric languages)|iso3=liv}}
Livonian (Līvõ kēļ) belongs to the Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. It is now spoken by only about 35 people, 10 of them fluently. It is related to Finnish, spoken on the other side of the Gulf of Finland, and Estonian. The native land of the Livonian people is Livonia, located in Latvia, north of the Kurzeme peninsula. It is a highly endangered language. Some of the ethnic Livonians learn or have learnt the language in order to revive it. This is problematic because ethnic Livonians are nowhere in the majority and have little opportunity to use the language.
Its orthography is a derivation of both Latvian and Estonian orthography.
Roman alphabet:
A/a, (Ā/ā), B/b, C/c, Č/č, D/d, Ḑ/ḑ, E/e, (Ē/ē), F/f, G/g, Ģ/ģ, H/h, I/i, (Ī/ī), J/j, K/k, Ķ/ķ, L/l, Ļ/ļ, M/m, N/n, Ņ/ņ, O/o, (Ō/ō), Ȯ/ȯ, (Ȱ/ȱ), P/p, [Q/q], R/r, Ŗ/ŗ, S/s, Š/š, Z/z, Ž/ž, T/t, Ț/ț, U/u, (Ū/ū), V/v, (W/w), Õ/õ, (Ȭ/ȭ), Ä/ä, (Ǟ/ǟ), Ö/ö, (Ȫ/ȫ), Ü/ü, [X/x], Y/y, (Ȳ/ȳ)
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
External links
cs:Livonština de:Livische Sprache et:Liivi keel fo:Livonskt fr:Live it:Lingua livoniana lt:Lyvių kalba hu:Lív nyelv nl:Lijfs ja:リボニア語 no:Livisk språk nn:Livisk språk se:Liivigiella fi:Liivin kieli sv:Liviska