Latvian Alphabet and Pronunciation Guide
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When you first look at Latvian text, it might look a little challenging.
You’ll see lines over vowels, little checks above consonants, and commas under letters.
But I have some great news for you.
Latvian is actually very phonetic.
Unlike English, where the letter “a” sounds different in “apple,” “car,” and “about,” Latvian letters almost always sound exactly the same way every time you see them. Once you learn the alphabet, you can read almost any word perfectly.
The Latvian alphabet consists of 33 letters.
It’s based on the Latin script (the same one English uses), but we don’t use Q, W, X, or Y in our standard alphabet (though you might see them in foreign names).
I’ll break it down.
Table of Contents:
The vowels and the “garumzīme”
In Latvian, vowel length is very important. It can actually change the meaning of a word!
You will notice some vowels have a straight horizontal line over them (like ā, ē, ī, ū). This mark is called a garumzīme (literally “length mark”).
When you see this line, you simply hold the sound for longer.
- Short vowels: Short and quick (a, e, i, u).
- Long vowels: Stretched out (ā, ē, ī, ū).
Think of it like music. A short vowel is a quarter note, and a long vowel is a half note.
Here is a simple guide to the vowels:
| Letter | Sounds like English… | Latvian Example |
|---|---|---|
| A a | a in “mama” | ala (cave) |
| Ā ā | a in “car” (long) | āda (skin) |
| E e | e in “bed” (sometimes broad like “bad”) | es (I) |
| Ē ē | ai in “air” (long) | ēst (to eat) |
| I i | i in “hit” | ir (is) |
| Ī ī | ee in “sheep” | īss (short) |
| U u | u in “put” | uguns (fire) |
| Ū ū | oo in “moon” | ūdens (water) |
Wait, what about O?
The letter O is unique in Latvian. It has three “personalities”:
- Usually, it is pronounced as a diphthong “uo” (like the “wo” in “woman”).
- In foreign words, it is a short “o” (like “order”).
- Sometimes it is a long “o” (like “ore”).
In 90% of basic Latvian words, pronounce it as “uo”.
Oga (pronounced: uo-ga)
The consonants and special marks
Most Latvian consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, z) sound exactly like they do in English.
However, the R is always rolled (trilled), like in Spanish or Italian.
Then we have the special characters. These are modified by diacritics to change their sound.
The “hushing” sounds (Caron/Hacek)
These letters have a little “v” shape above them. This generally adds an “h” sound to the letter.
| Letter | Sounds like English… | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Č č | ch in “chips” | četri (four) |
| Š š | sh in “shoe” | šis (this) |
| Ž ž | s in “measure” or “pleasure” | žurka (rat) |
The “soft” sounds
These letters have a small mark that looks like a comma. For Ķ, Ļ, and Ņ, the mark is at the bottom. For Ģ, the mark is on top (in lowercase).
These make the sound “soft” or “palatalized.” Imagine trying to pronounce the letter while pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth.
| Letter | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ģ ģ | Like d in “dew” (soft g) | ģimene (family) |
| Ķ ķ | Like t in “tube” or “cute” | ķiploks (garlic) |
| Ļ ļ | Like l in “million” | ļoti (very) |
| Ņ ņ | Like n in “onion” or “new” | ņemt (to take) |
Note: There is also the letter C, which is not “soft” or “hushing”, but foreigners often get it wrong. In Latvian, C is always pronounced like “ts” (like in “cats”). It is never a “k” sound.
Cūka (pronounced: tsoo-ka)
Diphthongs (two vowels together)
A diphthong is just a fancy word for two vowel sounds sliding into one another within the same syllable.
Here are the most common ones you will hear:
- ai: sounds like “eye” or “my”.
- ei: sounds like “ay” in “say”.
- ui: sounds like “oo-ee” (quick distinct sounds).
- ie: sounds like “ea” in “ear” or “yeah”. This is very common!
Iela (pronounced: ea-la)
The golden rule of stress
If you remember only one thing from this guide, make it this:
In Latvian, the stress is almost ALWAYS on the first syllable.
It doesn’t matter how long the word is. You hit the first syllable hard, and the rest follow.
- Latvija (LAT-vi-ja)
- Kartupelis (KAR-tu-pe-lis) - Potato
- Rokasgrāmata (RO-kas-grā-ma-ta) - Handbook
There are a tiny handful of exceptions (mostly words borrowed from other languages like “tomāts”), but if you stress the first syllable, you will be right 99% of the time.
This makes Latvian much easier to learn than languages like Russian or English, where stress jumps around.
Summary
Learning the Latvian alphabet is the first step to fluency. Because the language is read exactly as it is written, you can start reading signs, menus, and books immediately after memorizing these sounds.
To recap:
- Look for the garumzīme (-) to know when to hold a vowel long.
- Watch out for the č, š, ž (hushing) and ķ, ģ, ļ, ņ (soft) consonants.
- Always stress the first syllable.
Good luck, and keep practicing.
