Livonian

Facts

  • Language: Livonian
  • Alternate names: rānda kēļ, Liv, Liivõ Keelj, liiv, Livisch, kurländisch-livisch, live, rändalis-, livy, Livian, rānda kēl΄, libiesu valoda, livskij jazyk,
  • Language code: liv
  • Language family: Uralic, Finnic, Coastal Finnic
  • Number of speakers: "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)."
  • Vulnerability: Awakening
  • Script: Latin script.

More information:

    Christian.

    "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)