The table below shows the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Latvian language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Latvian phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Latvian.

IPA key

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Mostly based on Nau, Nicole (1998), Latvian, Lincom Europa, p. 66, ISBN 3-89586-228-2

IPA Examples English approximation
Consonants
b bāka [baːka][1] boat
c ķēķis [ceːcis] between choose and skew
d diena [diɛna], atdarīt [ˈadːariːt][1] duck
dz dzimt [dzimt] adze
dai [dad͡ʒi] jug
f fosfors [ˈfosfɔːrs][2] fast
ɡ gūt [guːt], ikdiena [ˈigdiɛna][1] go
j jā [jaː] yes
ɟ ģērbt [ɟeːrpt] between June and argue
k kāpt [kaːpt], smags [smaks][3] scat
l lai [lai] lip
ʎ ļoti [ʎuɔti] million (some dialects)
m man [man] man
n nav [naʊ] nap
ɲ ņemt [ɲemt] canyon
ŋ bungas [buŋgas][4] bank
p pipari [ˈpipːari], skābs [skaːps][3] spun
r "re kur!" [reˌkur] rolled r
s suns [suns], mazs [masː][3] sun
ʃ seši [seʃi], mežs [meʃː][3] ship
t tas [tas] stone
ts celts [tsælts], sods [suɔts][3] cats
četri [t͡ʃetri] chop
v vai [vai] vat
x heterohromija [ˈxeteroxrɔːmija][2] loch (Scottish)
z zināt [zinaːt] zipper
ʒ daži [daʒi] rouge
IPA Examples English approximation
Monophthongs
a dakša [dakʃa] father (short)
pār [paːr] father (long)
æ (viņš) bed [bæd] bat
æː bēda [bæːda] bad
e bet [bet] roughly like face
ēst [eːst] roughly like pay
i viss [visː] sheep
vīst [viːst] she
ɔ operācija [ˈɔpːeraːtsija][5] off (short)
ɔː opera [ɔːpera][5] off (long)
u un [un] pull
būt [buːt] pool
Diphthongs[6]
ai tai [tai][7] tie
au tauta [tauta] thou
diena [diɛna] dear
ɛi vei [vɛi][7] whey
ui fui [fui][7] phooey!
iu pliukšķis [pliukʃt͡ʃis][8] roughly like few
lolojot [luɔluɔjuɔt][5] somewhat like Italian scuola but falling
oi ahoi [aˈhɔi][7][8] boycott
ɛu tev [tɛu], Eugēnija [ˈɛugeːnija][9] roughly like go (some dialects[10]); Portuguese céu
ɔu boulings [bɔuliŋks][8] bowling
Hiatus
. Separates vowel clusters that are not diphthongs: neilgs [ˈne.ilks], triumfs [ˈtri.umfs], neieiet [ˈne.iɛ.iɛt]
Stress
ˈ Stress (stress almost always falls on the first syllable of a word and may be omitted transcribing Latvian in IPA)
Gemination
ː Long vowel or doubled consonant (only for sonorants)

Geminate consonants

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At the time of its inception, a conscious decision was made that Latvian orthography would not show gemination/lengthening of consonants because it was unnecessary to do so. Nevertheless, single obstruent consonants (as opposed to consonant clusters) between two short vowels are always long: Atis would be ⟨attis⟩ and aka would be ⟨akka⟩ or [ˈatːis] and [ˈakːa].[11] In transcribing Latvian in IPA, however, consonant length is usually not indicated. Sonorants, however, are indicated in orthography: in mamma, panna, allaž, ķerra the long sonorants should probably be indicated in both phonetic and phonemic [less precise] transcriptions: [mamːa], [panːa], [alːaʒ], [cærːa].[11]

Tone

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Standard Latvian has three tones called, by convention, the level (stiepts), broken (lauzts) and falling (krītošs,) indicated by a tilde (~), circumflex (^) or grave (`) accents, respectively.[12] Different tones are distinguished if the stressed syllable (the first syllable, in most all cases) has either a long vowel or a diphthong. Short vowels and unstressed syllables do not take on different tones.[13]

In Riga, the Latvian falling and broken tones have been syncretized: its users differentiate only between the level and broken tones and perceive the falling tone as broken.

Tone is usually omitted transcribing Latvian in IPA.[why?][citation needed] English Wiktionary's Latvian entries, however, uses a notation of macron, circumflex or grave accent if necessary (the tilde is already reserved for indicating nasal vowels in IPA so it is replaced it with a macron.)

References

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  1. ^ a b c An unvoiced consonant, in a compound, followed by a voiced consonant becomes voiced: atdarīt[ˈadːariːt] or [ˈadˌdariːt].
  2. ^ a b [f] and [x] occur only in loanwords.
  3. ^ a b c d e Before the masculine ending -s, voiced consonants are devoiced: smags[smaks]. The -s is assimilated after a devoiced fricative, producing a long consonant: mazs[masː] and mežs[meʃː]. Devoicing also occurs in compounds: labprātīgs[ˈlapːraːtiːks] or [ˈlapˌpraːtiːks].
  4. ^ Allophone of nasals before velars.
  5. ^ a b c The letter ⟨o⟩ in Latvian orthography usually represents the diphthong [uɔ]): Lithuanian nuoma and Latvian noma. [ɔ] and its long counterpart, [ɔː], occur only in loanwords.
  6. ^ "DIVSKAŅI". Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d In closed syllables, [ai], [ɛi], [oi], and [ui] may be transcribed as vowel-glide sequences: tais [tajs], veikt [vɛjkt], boikots [bɔjkɔts], and muita [mujta].
  8. ^ a b c Only in loanwords or onomatopoeiatic words.
  9. ^ Only in loanwords and onomatopoeiatic words or as the result of vocalization in open syllables of [v].
  10. ^ These dialects include Southern England (including Received Pronunciation), English Midlands, Australian, New Zealand, the Southern American, Midland American, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Western Pennsylvania and younger Californian English. Other dialects of English, such as most other forms of American, Northern England, Welsh, Scottish and Irish English, have no close equivalent vowel.
  11. ^ a b Kortmann, Bernd (2011). The Languages and Linguistics of Europe. Walter de Gruyter. p. 5. ISBN 3110220253. Retrieved 28 November 2024. Consonant quantity is well-developed in Latvian as a result of Fennic substratum influence. Sonorants show distinctive quantity mainly in loanwords, cf. manna [manːa] 'manna' vs. mana [mana] (nom.sg.fem. of 1st ps. sg possesive pronoun). Non-distinctive quantitative variation in obstruents occurs in native words: immediately post-tonic voicless obstruents are automatically lengthened between short vowels, cf. lapa [lapːa] 'leaf' vs. lāpa [laːpa] 'torch,' lapā [lapaː] 'leaf (loc.sg.)'. In Lithuanian there is no consonantal quantity and on the morphemic boundary geminates are shortened.
  12. ^ Masļanska, Olga; Rubīna, Aina (1992). Valsts valoda - Курс лекций латышского языка. Rīga. p. 11. В латышском языке имеется слоговая интонация, которая может быть протяжной (~), прерывистой (^) и нисходящей (\). В некоторых случаях интонация имеет смыслоразличительное значение, например: за~ле ("зал"), за^ле ("трава"), za\les ("лекарство"){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ Kortmann, Bernd (2011). The Languages and Linguistics of Europe. Walter de Gruyter. p. 6. ISBN 3110220253. Retrieved 28 November 2024. Both Latvian and Lithuanian are pitch languages. In Lithuanian, stressed long vocalic segments (long vowels, diphthongs, and sequences of vowel plus sonorant) show a distinctive opposition of rising and falling pitch, cf. kar̃tų 'time:gen.pl' vs. kártų 'hang:irr.3'. In standard Latvian (and some of the dialects), long vocalic sequences (of the same type as in Lithuanian) distinguish three varieties of pitch: 'even', 'falling', and 'broken' ('broken pitch' being a falling pitch with superadded glottalisation). They are fully differentiated in stressed syllables only: unstressed syllables have an opposition of glottalised and non-glottalised long vocalic segments. Segments with 'even' pitch are ultra long. Neither Lithuanian nor Latvian mark pitch in their standard orthography.

See also

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