The Latvian language is the official language of Latvia and is a member of the Baltic language family. It has a rich and varied history, which has produced a modern language used in everyday life and in official capacities.
Latvian is a heavily inflected language, meaning that the form of a word can change depending on its use in a sentence. It uses affixation and suppletion, which create various structures.
Latvian is written using the Latin alphabet, which many other European languages use. It includes 33 letters, including three additional letters representing sounds unique to the Latvian language.
Latvian has two distinct dialects- the Highland dialect, which is spoken mainly in the northern regions of Latvia, and the lowland dialect is primarily in the south.
The Latvian language is closely related to other Baltic languages like Lithuanian and Old Prussian and shares many similarities.
Latvian has both a literary and a verbal form, which differ in style and usage. Literary forms are primarily in more formal contexts, such as news broadcasts, academic papers, and official documents.
Word order in Latvian is vital, as the main verb always appears at the end of a sentence. It can make the language difficult for English speakers to interpret.
Latvian does not have gender-specific pronouns and nouns; words are gender-neutral and used for both male and female individuals.
Latvian does not have articles like English; instead, the demonstrative pronouns - this and that - are used instead of the definite and indefinite articles.
Latvian, like many languages, is full of idioms and expressions. It expresses emotion or ideas more succinctly and imaginatively.
Latvian is famously known for its abundance of diminutive forms; the development of this form of a word is quite common when speaking Latvian.
