Endangered Languages Project

"Livonian is an autochthonous language of Latvia, which is mentioned in the Latvian Official Language Law. There are very few speakers, researchers, or teachers of Livonian and it is listed in the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger as one of the most critically endangered languages in Europe." (Druviete & Klava, 2018)

Alias		rānda kēļ, Liv, Liivõ Keelj, liiv, Livisch, kurländisch-livisch, live, rändalis-, livy, Livian, rānda kēl΄, libiesu valoda, livskij jazyk,
KLASSIFIZIERUNG		Uralic, Finnic
ORTHGRAFIE		Latin
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
SPRACHENCODE		liv
VARIANTEN & DIALEKTE		Eastern Livonian Western Livonian
DOWNLOAD		Als csv
WEITERE RESSOURCEN		OLAC-Suche

Compare Sources (7)

Informationen von: “The role of Livonian in Latvia from a sociolinguistic perspective” (129–146) . Ina Druviete; Gunta Klava (2018)

Erwachen
"The 30 people mentioned above (Livones) who speak Livonian well include scientists and other interested individuals from research insti-tutions around the world but who are not Livonians themselves; Livo-nian descendants who did not learn Livonian from their parents but from their grandparents; also those who learned Livonian from a fluent older speaker (not a family member) and through self-study. It may be that 30 is too large of a number if we evaluate these speakers using, for example, the language proficiency levels as defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (using their general principles, as a description of Livonian language proficiency levels is not, of course, currently available and for the time being is not even pos-sible to generate)."
Muttersprachler weltweit
Ethnische Population
250
MEHR ZUR ANZAHL DER SPRECHER
250 people self-identified as Livonian on the 2011 Latvian Census, however as the authors of the paper note, this number may not be accurate.

SPRECHEREINSTELLUNG: "Indeed, despite the activities of the Livonian community, significant contributions to the field of Livonian language research, intense popularising of Livonian issues by the Latvian Language Agency, and the recent establishment of the University of Latvia Livonian Institute, some sense of alienation may still be felt between the Livonians and Latvian society as a whole. This situation may not be improved by governmental efforts alone; a change in public opinion is the decisive factor. Until now, the focus in public discourse concerning the Livonians has been on factual information about language, ethnodemography, history, and also on Livonian organisations and governmental support for Livo-nian language and culture. The development and protection measures directed to the Livonian language are largely ignoring the language situation in the Republic of Latvia – the ethnogenetic territory of both the Livonians and Latvians."
UNTERSTÜTZUNG DER REGIERUNG: None
INSTITUTIONELLE UNTERSTÜTZUNG: Latvian Language Agency, University of Latvia Livonian Institute
ANDERE VON DER GEMEINSCHAFT GESPROCHENE SPRACHEN

Ernsthaft gefährdet

40 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~15
Muttersprachler weltweit
HALBSPRECHER
~20
MEHR ZUR ANZAHL DER SPRECHER
About 35 persons could speak Livonian in 1990, 15 of them fluently.

DATUM DER INFORMATION: 1990

ENTWICKLUNGSTENDENZEN BEI SPRECHERN
ANDERE VON DER GEMEINSCHAFT GESPROCHENE SPRACHEN

ORTSBESCHREIBUNG

Ancient Livonians lived in Livonia, i.e. in the 60--100 km wide area on the eastern coast of the Livonian Bay from the Väina river (Daugava) to the Estonian territory and in north Courland among the Courlanders. Some researchers are of the opinion that the Livonian habitat in North Latvia could have been wider. According to the chronicle of Henrik the Lett, the Livonians lived at the estuary of the Väina, on the Koiva (Gauya) and in Salatsi (Salaca).

Nowadays, there are only an insignificant number of Livonians, living in the coastal villages of Northwest Courland and dispersed throughout Latvia (Ventspils, Talsi, Riga).

Format
0
Muttersprachler weltweit
MEHR ZUR ANZAHL DER SPRECHER
"...in 2011 a 101-year-old speaker was known to be living... in Toronto; she moved away [from Latvia] in 1944. She has since died, and so, in terms of native-born mother-tongue speakers, the language could be said to be extinct." "Ethnic Livonians using the heritage language are scattered."

UNTERSTÜTZUNG DER REGIERUNG: None
INSTITUTIONELLE UNTERSTÜTZUNG: Līvõ Kultūr Sidām (Latvia), Liivi Sõprade Selts (Tartu, Estonia), Livonian-German dictionary, New Testament
ANDERE VON DER GEMEINSCHAFT GESPROCHENE SPRACHEN
KOMMENTARE ZUM SPRACHKONTEXT: "...it is not actively promoted by central government in either Estonia or Latvia. Therefore the language is destined to be the focus of a minority interest group and, even on its home territory, the reminders of the language’s presence are pretty weak."
Skripte (Schreibsysteme und Orthografien): Latin
Rechtschreibung: Subtle differences in orthographies. First written in 19th century

ORTE: Latvia

ORTSBESCHREIBUNG: "on the northern edge of the coast of Kurzeme province in western Latvia."

Ernsthaft gefährdet

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1
Muttersprachler weltweit
Ethnische Population
200
MEHR ZUR ANZAHL DER SPRECHER
(T. Salminen)

DATUM DER INFORMATION: 2007

Skripte (Schreibsysteme und Orthografien): Latin

ORTE: Latvia

ORTSBESCHREIBUNG: "Riga city: Kurzeme district, west of Kolkasrags, 12 coastal villages; otherwise scattered."

Ernsthaft gefährdet

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~1
Muttersprachler weltweit
MEHR ZUR ANZAHL DER SPRECHER
In 1989, fifty speakers were reported from Latvia and about the same number in parts of the Russian Federation, but these figures were clearly inflated. There is possibly only one speaker with full native competence, which makes the language nearly extinct. At the same time, there are several younger descendants of Livonian speakers who have learnt Livonian as second language and cultivate it actively.

NUTZUNGSBEREICHE
ENTWICKLUNGSTENDENZEN BEI SPRECHERN
VERBREITUNG

ORTE: Latvia

ORTSBESCHREIBUNG: Spoken mainly along the northern coast of Curonia in the northwest, but also scattered elsewhere; formerly also in the historical province of Livonia east of the Gulf of Riga.

Stark gefährdet

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
18
Muttersprachler weltweit

			2007	Europe and North Asia	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	211-282	C. Moseley	London & New York: Routledge					Tapani Salminen	Salminen, Tapani. 2007. "Europe and North Asia." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by C. Moseley. 211-282. London & New York: Routledge.	HHOLD		~1		1-9	In 1989, fifty speakers were reported from Latvia and about the same number in parts of the Russian Federation, but these figures were clearly inflated. There is possibly only one speaker with full native competence, which makes the language nearly extinct. At the same time, there are several younger descendants of Livonian speakers who have learnt Livonian as second language and cultivate it actively.							Critically Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	14	15	Latvia	Spoken mainly along the northern coast of Curonia in the northwest, but also scattered elsewhere; formerly also in the historical province of Livonia east of the Gulf of Riga.
0199255911			2005	The World Atlas of Language Structures			Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer	Oxford University Press			New York			2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.																			56.8333333333,24.0
		1	2014	Livonian – the most endangered language in Europe?		61–75		University of Tartu Press	Eesti ja soome-ugri keeleteaduse ajakiri (Journal of Estonian and Finno-Ugric Linguistics)	5			Christopher Moseley				0			"...in 2011 a 101-year-old speaker was known to be living... in Toronto; she moved away [from Latvia] in 1944. She has since died, and so, in terms of native-born mother-tongue speakers, the language could be said to be extinct." "Ethnic Livonians using the heritage language are scattered."		Some	Latvian		"...it is not actively promoted by central government in either Estonia or Latvia. Therefore the language is destined to be the focus of a minority interest group and, even on its home territory, the reminders of the language’s presence are pretty weak."	Līvõ Kultūr Sidām (Latvia), Liivi Sõprade Selts (Tartu, Estonia), Livonian-German dictionary, New Testament	Dormant ()				Latvia	"on the northern edge of the coast of Kurzeme province in western Latvia."
			2018	The role of Livonian in Latvia from a sociolinguistic perspective		129–146			ESUKA – JEFUL	9–2		https://doi.org/10.12697/jeful.2018.9.2.06	Ina Druviete; Gunta Klava			250	"The 30 people mentioned above (Livones) who speak Livonian well include scientists and other interested individuals from research insti-tutions around the world but who are not Livonians themselves; Livo-nian descendants who did not learn Livonian from their parents but from their grandparents; also those who learned Livonian from a fluent older speaker (not a family member) and through self-study. It may be that 30 is too large of a number if we evaluate these speakers using, for example, the language proficiency levels as defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (using their general principles, as a description of Livonian language proficiency levels is not, of course, currently available and for the time being is not even pos-sible to generate)."		Awakening	250 people self-identified as Livonian on the 2011 Latvian Census, however as the authors of the paper note, this number may not be accurate.			Latvian, Russian, English	"Indeed, despite the activities of the Livonian community, significant contributions to the field of Livonian language research, intense popularising of Livonian issues by the Latvian Language Agency, and the recent establishment of the University of Latvia Livonian Institute, some sense of alienation may still be felt between the Livonians and Latvian society as a whole. This situation may not be improved by governmental efforts alone; a change in public opinion is the decisive factor. Until now, the focus in public discourse concerning the Livonians has been on factual information about language, ethnodemography, history, and also on Livonian organisations and governmental support for Livo-nian language and culture. The development and protection measures directed to the Livonian language are largely ignoring the language situation in the Republic of Latvia – the ethnogenetic territory of both the Livonians and Latvians."		Latvian Language Agency, University of Latvia Livonian Institute	Awakening ()
				World Oral Literature Project								http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			18		10-99								Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
	18th		2015	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 18th Edition			Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig	SIL International			Dallas, Texas	http://www.ethnologue.com		Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2015. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.		200	1	2007	1-9	(T. Salminen)							Critically Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				Latvia	"Riga city: Kurzeme district, west of Kolkasrags, 12 coastal villages; otherwise scattered."
9985-936922			1993	The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire			Andrew Humphreys and Krista Mits					http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook		"The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire." edited by Andrew Humphreys and Krista Mits. Online: http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook.			~15	1990	10-99	About 35 persons could speak Livonian in 1990, 15 of them fluently.	~20		Latvian				Critically Endangered (40 percent certain, based on the evidence available)			15		Ancient Livonians lived in Livonia, i.e. in the 60--100 km wide area on the eastern coast of the Livonian Bay from the Väina river (Daugava) to the Estonian territory and in north Courland among the Courlanders. Some researchers are of the opinion that the Livonian habitat in North Latvia could have been wider. According to the chronicle of Henrik the Lett, the Livonians lived at the estuary of the Väina, on the Koiva (Gauya) and in Salatsi (Salaca). Nowadays, there are only an insignificant number of Livonians, living in the coastal villages of Northwest Courland and dispersed throughout Latvia (Ventspils, Talsi, Riga).

Livonian

Metadaten der Sprache

Sprachdokumentationsforum

Erwachen

Ernsthaft gefährdet

40 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~15

Format

0

Ernsthaft gefährdet

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1

Ernsthaft gefährdet

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~1

Stark gefährdet

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

18

Diskussion

Livonian

Metadaten der Sprache

Sprachdokumentationsforum

Erwachen

Ernsthaft gefährdet

40 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~15

Format

0

Ernsthaft gefährdet

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1

Ernsthaft gefährdet

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~1

Stark gefährdet

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

18

Diskussion

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