The Latvian Alphabet - Vowels, Consonants, Diacritics & more

Q: How many letters are in the Latvian alphabet?

The Latvian alphabet has 33 letters in total [1] . This includes 6 vowels (including long vowels with macrons) and 27 consonants with various diacritical marks.

Q: What are the unique features of Latvian letters?

Latvian letters have several distinctive characteristics : • Macrons (¯) - mark long vowels: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū • Caron (ˇ) - modifies consonants: č, š, ž • Comma below - creates palatalized sounds: ģ, ķ, ļ, ņ • Letters Q, W, X, Y are not used in native words

Q: Why doesn't Latvian use Q, W, X, Y?

These letters are not part of native Latvian : • Historical development - Latvian evolved without these sounds • Phonetic system - Latvian has its own sound inventory • Foreign words - these letters appear only in borrowings • This makes Latvian alphabet perfectly suited to its sounds !

Q: Where is Latvian spoken today?

Latvian is spoken in several places: • Latvia - where it's the official language • Latvian communities worldwide in countries like USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, UK • European Union - it's one of the official EU languages About 1.9 million people speak Latvian worldwide [3] !

Q: How important are macrons in Latvian?

Macrons are extremely important in Latvian: • Change meaning - "mana" (my-fem) vs "māna" (deception) • Indicate vowel length - crucial for pronunciation • Required in writing - not optional marks • Omitting macrons can completely change word meanings !

Q: Is Latvian alphabet easy to learn?

Latvian has several learner-friendly features : • Phonetic spelling - letters correspond to sounds • Consistent pronunciation rules • Latin script base familiar to many learners • Once you learn diacritics, reading becomes straightforward !

The Latvian alphabet consists of 33 letters, with 6 vowels and 27 consonants^[1]. Based on the Latin script with specific diacritical marks, it was standardized in the early 20th century. The vowels include A, E, I, O, U plus Ā, Ē, Ī, Ō, Ū with macrons, while consonants feature distinctive letters such as Č, Ģ, Ķ, Ļ, Ņ, Š, Ž. These diacritical marks are essential for proper pronunciation and meaning distinction. Latvian is the official language of Latvia and is spoken by approximately 1.9 million people worldwide^[3]. The letters Q, W, X, Y are not used in native Latvian words.

Latvian Vowels (Uppercase)

[A]

[E]

[I]

[O]

[U]

[A]

[E]

[I]

[U]

Latvian Vowels (Lowercase)

[a]

[e]

[i]

[o]

[u]

[a]

[e]

[i]

[u]

Latvian Consonants (Uppercase)

[B]

[C]

[D]

[F]

[G]

[H]

[J]

[K]

[L]

[M]

[N]

[P]

[R]

[S]

[T]

[V]

[Z]

Latvian Consonants (Lowercase)

[b]

[c]

[d]

[f]

[g]

[h]

[j]

[k]

[l]

[m]

[n]

[p]

[r]

[s]

[t]

[v]

[z]

Letters with Macron (Garumzīme)

[a]

[A]

[e]

[E]

[i]

[I]

[u]

[U]

Letters with Caron (Mīkstinājuma zīme)

[c]

[C]

[s]

[S]

[z]

[Z]

Letters with Comma Below (Komatiņa)

[g]

[G]

[k]

[K]

[l]

[L]

[n]

[N]

Letters Not Used in Standard Latvian

[q]

[Q]

[w]

[W]

[x]

[X]

[y]

[Y]

Common Consonant Clusters

[bl]

[br]

[dz]

[dr]

[dv]

[gl]

[gr]

[kl]

[kr]

ļļ

[ļļ]

[pl]

[pr]

[sk]

[sl]

[sm]

[sn]

[sp]

[st]

[sv]

šķ

[šķ]

šļ

[šļ]

šņ

[šņ]

[tr]

[tv]

[zv]

žg

[žg]

[nulle]

[viens]

[divi]

[trīs]

[četri]

[pieci]

[seši]

[septiņi]

[astoņi]

[deviņi]

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How many letters are in the Latvian alphabet?

What are the unique features of Latvian letters?

Why doesn't Latvian use Q, W, X, Y?

Where is Latvian spoken today?

How important are macrons in Latvian?

Is Latvian alphabet easy to learn?

References:

[1] Latvian Language Agency. "Latvian Language Orthography". Retrieved from https://www.valodaagentūra.lv/
[2] Unicode Consortium. "Latin Extended-A Unicode Block (U+0100-U+017F)". Retrieved from https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0100.pdf
[3] Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. "Latvia in Figures". Retrieved from https://www.csb.gov.lv/