The Latvian Alphabet

Level 1

Latvian has 33 letters: 22 plain Latin letters and 11 marked ones, ā č ē ģ ī ķ ļ ņ š ū ž. The letters q, w, x and y are not used.

How It Works

In alphabetical order the letters are: a ā b c č d e ē f g ģ h i ī j k ķ l ļ m n ņ o p r s š t u ū v z ž.

The eleven marked letters come in three groups:

  • A line on top (a macron) makes a vowel long: ā ē ī ū, as in māja (house) and kūka (cake). See long vowels.
  • A small v on top (a háček) gives č š ž, the sounds in English church, shop and measure: četri (four), šodien (today), žurnāls (magazine). See the letters č, š and ž.
  • A small comma gives the soft consonants ģ ķ ļ ņ: ģimene (family), ķirsis (cherry), ļoti (very), ņemt (to take). On a small g the comma sits on top. See the letters ģ, ķ, ļ and ņ.

A few plain letters sound different from English:

  • c is always "ts", as in cena (price) and cukurs (sugar).
  • j is the "y" in yes: jā (yes), jūra (sea).
  • e and ē each have two sounds, one like the e in bed and one closer to the a in cat. See two sounds of e.
  • o in Latvian words is the glide "uo", as in ola (egg). See diphthongs.
  • f and h appear mainly in loanwords: futbols, filma, hokejs.

Two sounds are written with two letters but are not separate letters of the alphabet: dz and dž, as in dziesma (song) and džemperis (sweater). See dz and dž.

Words from other languages get Latvian spelling: taksometrs (taxi), viskijs (whisky), joga (yoga), džinsi (jeans). Older books and some newspapers for Latvians abroad still use the retired letters ŗ, ō and ch. Modern standard Latvian does not.

In a dictionary, words with č, ģ, ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ž have their own sections after the plain letter, so čau comes after every word that starts with c. The long vowels ā, ē, ī, ū are usually sorted together with a, e, i, u.

Learn to type the marks from day one. On a phone, add the Latvian keyboard and hold down a letter to choose its marked form.

Examples (6)

  1. Mani sauc Līga.

    My name is Līga.

    Word by Word: Me (they) call Līga.

    Ī is a long i. The mark is part of the name.

  2. Šodien esmu mājās.

    I'm at home today.

    Word by Word: Today (I) am at-home.

    Š is one letter for the sh sound. Without the mark, sodien is not a word.

  3. Ģimene ir mājās.

    The family is at home.

    Word by Word: Family is at-home.

    Ģ is the soft g. On a capital Ģ the comma goes below, and on a small ģ it goes on top.

  4. Es dzeru ūdeni.

    I'm drinking water.

    Word by Word: I drink water.

    Dz is one sound written with two letters, and ū is a long u.

  5. Man patīk hokejs.

    I like hockey.

    Word by Word: To-me pleases hockey.

    H appears mainly in loanwords such as hokejs.

  6. Man patīk joga.

    I like yoga.

    Word by Word: To-me pleases yoga.

    Loanwords take Latvian spelling. The English y becomes j, the same letter as in jā.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the marks off, the way people sometimes type online.

    Sodien esmu majas.
    Šodien esmu mājās.

    The marks are part of the word. Without them, sodien and majas are not words. Write every mark.

  • Writing loanwords with q, w, x or y.

    Man patīk yoga.
    Man patīk joga.

    Latvian spells loanwords with its own letters. Y becomes j, w becomes v, and x becomes ks, as in taksometrs.

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The Latvian AlphabetLevel 1

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