Language/Standard-latvian/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation
Welcome to the Standard-latvian Pronunciation lesson, where we will explore the Alphabet and Pronunciation of this beautiful language. By the end of this lesson, you will have a solid understanding of the Standard-latvian alphabet and how to pronounce each letter correctly. Once you've mastered this essential foundation, you can further enhance your language skills by exploring other related topics, such as our guide on Standard-latvian Grammar - The accusative case and direct objects. Enjoy your journey into the world of Standard-latvian, and remember that practice makes perfect! 📚🎓
In today's lesson, you will learn how to write the different letters of the Latvian alphabet, how to pronounce these letters whether it is through the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), or through a video with the pronunciation of the letters by a native speaker.
You will also find at the end of this lesson a virtual keyboard to be able to type each special character of this language.
Latvian Alphabet and IPA Pronunciation[edit | edit source]
Alphabet[edit | edit source]
The Latvian standard alphabet has 33 letters:
Letter | Name | IPA |
---|---|---|
A, a | a | [ɑ] |
Ā, ā | garais ā | [ɑː] |
B, b | bē | [b] |
C, c | cē | [t̪͡s̪] |
Č, č | čē | [t͡ʃ] |
D, d | dē | [d̪] |
E, e | e | [e], [æ] |
Ē, ē | garais ē | [eː], [æː] |
F, f | ef | [f] |
G, g | gā | [ɡ] |
Ģ, ģ | ģē | [ɟ] |
H, h | hā | [x] |
I, i | i | [i] |
Ī, ī | garais ī | [iː] |
J, j | jē | [j] |
K, k | kā | [k] |
Ķ, ķ | ķē | [c] |
L, l | el | [l] |
Ļ, ļ | eļ | [ʎ] |
M, m | em | [m] |
N, n | en | [n̪], [ŋ] |
Ņ, ņ | eņ | [ɲ] |
O o | o | [ua̯], [o], [oː] |
P, p | pē | [p] |
R, r | er | [r], [rʲ] |
S, s | es | [s̪] |
Š, š | eš | [ʃ] |
T, t | tē | [t̪] |
U, u | u | [u] |
Ū, ū | garais ū | [uː] |
V, v | vē | [v] |
Z, z | zē | [z̪] |
Vowels[edit | edit source]
Grapheme | IPA | English approximation |
---|---|---|
a | ɑ | like father, but shorter |
ā | ɑː | car |
e | e | elephant |
æ | map | |
ē | eː | similar to play |
æː | like bad, but longer | |
i | i | Between it and eat |
ī | iː | each |
o | [uɔ̯̯] | tour (some dialects) |
o | not (some dialects) | |
oː | though; boat | |
u | u | between look and Luke |
ū | uː | you |
Consonants[edit | edit source]
Grapheme | IPA | English approximation |
---|---|---|
b | b | brother |
c | t̪͡s̪ | like cats, with the tongue touching the teeth |
č | t͡ʃ | chair |
d | d̪ | like door, with the tongue touching the teeth |
dz | d̪͡z̪ | like lids, with the tongue touching the teeth |
dž | d͡ʒ | jog |
f | f | finger |
g | ɡ | gap |
ģ | ɟ | between duty (without yod-dropping) and argue |
h | x | loch (Scottish English) |
j | j | yawn |
k | k | cat |
ķ | c | similar to skew |
l | l | lamp |
ļ | ʎ | similar to William |
m | m | male |
n | n̪, ŋ | like nail, with the tongue touching the teeth, or sing |
ņ | ɲ | jalapeño |
p | p | peace |
r | r, [rʲ] | rolled r, like Spanish perro or Scottish English curd |
s | s̪ | like sock, with the tongue touching the teeth |
š | ʃ | shadow |
t | t̪ | like table, with the tongue touching the teeth |
v | v | vacuum |
z | z̪ | like zebra, with the tongue touching the teeth |
ž | ʒ | vision |
Video - Latvian Alphabet Pronunciation by a Native Speaker[edit | edit source]
Part 1[edit | edit source]
Part 2[edit | edit source]
Part 3[edit | edit source]
Latvian Online Virtual Keyboard[edit | edit source]