Latvian Language Research Articles

Фоно-типологические расстояния между балтийскими и славянскими языками

Phono-typological distances between Baltic and Slavonic languagesThe application of “Chi-square” criterion allows us to measure the distances between languages objectively. The phono-typological distance between Baltic and Slavonic languages was measured. The phono-typological distance between Lithuanian and Latvian languages is much greater than between Lithuanian and Old Russian. The sound picture of Lithuanian is more similar to modern Russian (6,07) than to Latvian. In its turn, Latvian’s sound picture is more similar to Old Russian (2,47) than Lithuanian. Latvian is more similar to modern Russian (3,65) than Lithuanian by its sound picture. The closeness of Baltic and Slavonic languages may be explained by the former language unity and by intensive language contacts.

The Latvian Language as Perceived by Teachers and Students in the 21st Century

<p>The risks to the Latvian language is also Latvian attitude to their own language – vulgarization of language, style diferences, ignoring the elementary language law – the attitude of the state towards the latvian language teaching and research funding. If we talk about Latvian language on 21st century, there could be two forecasts-optimistic and pessimistic. In order to fulfill the optimistic forecast, as consider 76 teachers from high schools of Lielupe and Pumpuri, who had participated in the survey, consider, that Latvian language must remain the only official language status. If the Latvian language will lose the only official language status, then the possible negative forecasts will come true. So 29% of respondents believe in that case, Latvia will lose the Latvian language environment. About 62% of respondents supported the pessimistic forecast. However, like other linquists, I am convinced that Latvian language in 21st century will move a lighter path, that will lead it to further prosperity. In conclusion let us remember the words what an academician J.Stradins said the European Year of Languages conference members:„I wish so the 21st century will not destroy what was built in the 20th century.”<em></em></p>

MODERN DIDACTIC TERMS IN THE CONTENT OF LATVIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE STUDIES

The article is devoted to a pending matter in the Latvian linguistics and methodology of language and literature – the formation of the system of terminology. The 90-ies of the 20th century when Latvia gained its national independence brought changes not only in the political and economic life but also in the terminology because new realities, which appeared in life, needed new names. Essential transformation in education brought along changes in the nomination system of the specific realities in the sphere. By establishing broader contacts with the pedagogical information field of the Western countries, translating scientific articles one comes in touch with specific concepts of the sphere for which there are no matching nominative units in Latvian and, judging by publications, in most cases equivalent terms are successfully formed. Unfortunately, this is not true of all innovatons, which, due to lack of time, amount of work or other reasons, in most cases are not submitted to language experts or the terminology commission for approval. The research provides analysis of several terms used in the methodology of the Latvian language and literature, as well as other subjects, yet are contraversial from the viewpoint of terminology and the quality of the Latvian language. The research presents the analysis of the semantic structure of active teaching methods and methodological approaches in language and literature in the context of the Latvian language world view with the aim to encourage teachers, lecturers of institutions of higher education, specialists in pedagogy and didactics and other people concerned to consider whether one or another name (which can hardly be referred to as ‘term’) fits into the education process.

Latvian language as a code in different communication channels

<p class="R-AbstractKeywords">This paper is dedicated to analyze of Latvian language as a code in such literary communication channels like press, poet, prose, legal literature. Calculations for zero-order, first-order, second-order and third-order Shannon entropy have been made and also corresponding values of redundancy and compression coefficients have been determined. All the calculations are done with a self-made computer program. Different communication channels of Latvian language are compared mutually and also Latvian language is compared with English and Russian as codes.</p>

Efforts to maintain Latvian identity in Augšbebri village, Omsk region

Driven by various motives, Latvian emigrants and exiles have been voluntarily or involuntarily choosing various regions of the world as their new home. Siberia is one such region – the first Latvian exiles were deported to this remote Russian territory already in the 18th century and a new wave of settlers moved there on their own accord in search of a better life in the early 19th century. Some of the Latvian villages have survived in Russia to this day. Augšbebri (Bobrovka) village in the Tara district, Omsk region, is one of them. Augšbebri village was founded in 1897 when the first settlers from Latvia registered as residents there. The modern-day residents of Augšbebri are the sixth generation of ethnic Latvians living in Siberia. The villagers have preserved their Latvian language skills and traditions, but are concerned about the younger generation’s ability to maintain their Latvian identity, because only few young people use Latvian in their day-to-day communication. The villagers’ efforts to maintain their language skills, traditions and Latvian identity in their adopted homeland are especially admirable at a time when so many Latvians leave their native country and establish Latvian communities in foreign countries in attempts to preserve their identity.

Feminist Identity: The Feministic Identity Development Scale, psychometrical and adaption in environment of Latvia

<p><em>The feminism is becoming more popular in Latvia now, but it’s impossible to find some psichological instrument which is adapted in latvian language and which is useabled for measuring the charecteristic’s of feminist identity. In this article are displayed the Feministic Identity Development Scale (FIAS- in latvian) </em><em>(the origional inquiry :Feministic Identity Development Scale (FIDS), Bargad & Hyde, 1991), thous diferent versions of their adaption and also versions of their modifications; Cronbach’s Alpha from 0.5 to 0.8, and their version in latvian language.</em></p><p><em>The adaptation of FIAS took part in three stages, the sample of the research consists only from women. The first sample consists form 330 women in age from 18 to 27 (M=18,75; SD=1,06) years old. The second and third sample consist form 501 women from 18 to 27 (M=20,33; SD=1,94) years old. The sample of Test- retest: 30 respondents. </em></p><p><em>In the course of the instrument adaptation in the psychometrical analysis was appointed: the summary of FIAS factorial modification version, the factorial validity, the analysis of the affirmatory factors, the convergential and divergential validity of FIAS.The results gained in the course of inguiry the factorial modification version of FIAS- are acknowledged to be acceptable and instruments of the inguiry of the identity crisis – approved to be useful for futher usage in investigation and can be practically used for psychological researches in Latvia.</em></p><p> </p>

Ob odnom balto-slavjanskom arhaizme: ‘3 x 9’<br>Towards a Baltoslavic Archaism: ‘3 x 9’</br>

This article discusses the origin of the nonary scale of notation in the East Slavic and Latvian languages. In the Balto-Slavic part of monograph “Indo-European Numerals” B. Comrie mentions that the origin of the nonary scale of notation in these languages remains vague. Now it is possible to confirm that in its general features the Slavs’ nonary scale of notation has Indo-European roots. In the ancient chronological systems a 28-day month, consisting of four 7-day weeks, is based on the moon phase change, and a 27-day month, consisting of three 9-day weeks, corresponds to the period during which the Moon passes the Zodiac circle. This oposition has its justification in the modern astrophysical knowledge, according to which three varieties of the lunar month are distinguished. On the other hand, ‘9’ is a multiplication of numerus perfectus 3. It also means the full number of counting units on different levels of the decimal scale of notation.

Predictors of Reading Disability in Latvian Language With a Regular Orthography

Predictors of Reading Disability in Latvian Language With a Regular Orthography

TRANSLATION OF THE FRAGMENTS OF THE POEM BY K. DONELAITIS “GADALAIKI” IN THE CONTEXT OF THE LATVIAN LITERATURE OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

The paper is dedicated to the translation of the fragments by K. F. Vatson of “Gadalaiki” (The Seasons) by K. Donelaitis in Latvian, – two opening fragments of the poem in the annual sets of 1822 and 1823 of the calendar of Kurzeme “Veca un jauna laika grāmata” (Book of an Old and a New Time), emphasizing the position of this publication in the context of the Latvian literature of the 20-ies of the 19th century. The Latvian literary theory traditionally interprets the translation by K. F. Watson emphasizing typological literary features of enlightenment that are common to this work. However, by the time when Watson’s translations were published, the ideas of the Enlightenment to a large extent had been already depleted, and in the Latvian literature influences of the early Romanticism were already noticeable. As it happens in other instances when we encounter distinguished examples of the word art, the text in “Gadalaiki” is also characterised by its timeless nature and universalism opened up possibilities to diverse interpretation and stood the test of time. “Gadalaiki” is related to the new values that were brought to the fore at the turn of the 18th and the 19th centuries into German and a little bit later also into Latvian literature by early Romanticism. In the translation of “Pavasara līgsmība” (Rejoicing of Spring) it is testified by the descriptions of revival of the nature and “non-pedagogical” childhood. Statements made against (the source text in Lithuanian; the translation in Latvian) sometimes uncritical attitude of the peasants towards “Germanism” and derogation of one’s own nationality bears resemblance to the attitude held by Johann Gottfried von Herder and later by representatives of the early Romanticism towards national identity as a phenomenon that is worthy of attention and research. It is not known whether Watson knew Lithuanian, however, we have to take into account that the bilingual Lithuanian and German edition was used for translation. Watson distinguished the familiarity of both Baltic languages – Latvian and Lithuanian, and according to him the Latvian language was just a “strongly” modified dialect of the Lithuanian language.

TWO PERSONAL LIBRARIES – ONE VISION: SIMONAS DAUKANTAS AND JURGIS PLATERIS

The attempts of this article to delineate the origins of the modern perceptions of the Lithuanian culture and literacy are based on the consideration of Daukantas’ library catalogue Te tytuły ksiąg w tym Rejestrze spisanych znajdujące bez krzyżykow są darowane Panom Dowkontom Mitkajckim Pana Andrzeja Dowkonta synom w roku 1852 gim przemnie Szymona Dowkonta and Domas Kaunas monograph Bibliotheca Georgii Comitis de Plater. Simonas Daukantas and Jurgis Plateris are the first intellectuals, whose works contain ideas, heavily influenced by the culture of the Eastern Prussia. Although Daukantas and Plateris were Catholics, they were highly influenced by the history of Eastern Prussia and the Lithuanian writings of Lutherans. While studying in Vilnius University, Daukantas and Plateris were students of prof. Ignacanas Onasevičius who encouraged his disciples to study not only the history of Lithuania but also the history of Eastern Prussia. Thanks to his influence, Daukantas and Platerys were more inclined towards the works of Lietuvininkai – Lutheran Lithuanians living in Prussia – unlike other intellectuals of the Great Lithuania. Having been familiarized with the culture and history of Eastern Prussia, they were more predisposed to the diction of Lutheran writings; their example inspired them to advance the written language of the Great Lithuania. Daukantas and Plateris agreed that both the Prussian and Latvian writings were significant for the development of the written Lithuanian language because of their close relation to it. Both of these men accumulated books not only about the Lithuanian but also about Prussian and Latvian languages. They concurred that the intellectuals of the Great Lithuania had to be united and an institute must be established, where books of appropriate content would be published and where people would be educated in the Lithuanian language.

BIBLIOGRAFAS KĀRLIS EGLE IR ŽURNALAS „LATVJU GRĀMATA“ (1922–1931)

The magazine “Latvju Grāmata” is the first monthly magazine in the Latvian language covering literary criticism, book science and bibliography. During the ten years of the existence, it gave comprehensive overview of the Latvian and foreign book science of the respective time and also summarized and first published a lot of cultural and historical material on the Latvian cultural figures and the development of literature. The monthly published reviews, critiques of the recently published books, serious general articles on literature, literary history and theory; writers’ biographies, letters and notes; articles on bibliography and art of the book; research on languages; reviews of outstanding foreign fiction; wide chronicle of the Latvian literary activities; chronicle of theatre and art; extensive bibliography of recent books; information about Latvians in foreign literature; reviews of book publishing, conferences and other issues. Rūdolfs Egle (1889–1947), a man of letters and translator, was the editor-in-chief of the magazine. His brother Kārlis Egle (1887–1974), a bibliographer, literary historian and translator, was the main and sometimes the only doer and the actual editor of the magazine. Ansis Gulbis (1873–1936), a book publisher and writer, was the initiator and founder of the magazine. The Latvian Book Dealers and Publishers Society became the publisher of the magazine to make its activities comprehensive. The magazine was printed in different printing houses. The first number of the “Latvju Grāmata” was published in September 1922. The Society suffered material losses because of the little number of the readers, therefore it gave up the magazine. Ansis Gulbis urged Kārlis and Rūdolfs Egles to undertake the publication of the magazine in order to continue the monthly which the community needed. Rūdolfs Egle became the editor-in-chief and publisher of the magazine since its first number of 1927. Kārlis Egle worked hard and systematically for the “Latvju Grāmata”, and at the same time he compiled collected works of several writers, translated fiction from English and Russian, wrote reviews and essays on literary history, compiled bibliographies of writers, wrote the chapter of the Latvian literature for the Latvian encyclopaedia Latviešu konversācijas vārdnīca and worked as a director of the Misiņš Library since 1925. Kārlis Egle fell ill with tuberculosis due to the hard and stressful work, and the publication of the magazine had to be ceased. The last number of “Latvju Grāmata” was published in December 1931. “Latvju Grāmata” is still the only magazine on the Latvian bibliography and literary criticism that covered only these issues. The monthly published the valuable bibliography of the Latvian publications from 1922 to November 1931 (in the decimal classification system) compiled by the bibliographers Augusts Ģinters and Voldemārs Caune. “Latvju Grāmata”, as an important publication on the Latvian bibliography, literary history and criticism, has not lost its meaning up to nowadays. It gives very rich material and detailed reviews of literary activities of the respective period and is important to the contemporary literary critics and cultural historians. The magazine “Latvju Grāmata” can be considered as one of the magazines that started the Latvian bibliography and book science.

OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES OF LATVIAN LANGUAGE AGENCY. PEDAGOGICAL PRECONDITIONS FOR THEIR USE

In order to implement the aims of 21st century’s education – personal self- determination and self-realization –, it is necessary to unite the traditional education forms and methods with innovative learning technologies and resources. Besides the traditional learning resources, which usually are used under supervision of teacher in joint learning process, also new and innovative resources appear, for example, open educational resources (OER). Together with other factors, they ensure availability of education and promote the current factors of modern learning process: individualization and differentiation of the learning process, development of learning skills, media competence as one the crucial skills, independence and participation in the learning process. Although it is undeniable, that OER promote the quality of education; however, as polls and researches show, the main attention is paid to the creation and publication of OER, but there is a problem in the assessment of OER quality, purposeful and pedagogically reasoned use (Stacey, 2010). Latvian Language Agency (LLA) created a portal “Teach and learn Latvian” in 2013, where were placed OER for the Latvian language learning, that are structured in two parts: Teach Latvian and Learn Latvian. By analysing the discussion among teachers, the results of polls and observations in the teaching process, LLA is elaborating a concept on creation of OER, as well ensuring the creation of qualitative content and creation of pedagogically reasoned guidelines. The aim of article is to characterise the OER, created by LLA, and pedagogical conditions for its use in the context of modern education. The article: 1) deals with the current situation of modern education, that justifies the importance of OER’s creation and use; 2) defines the notion and essence of the term OER; 3) characterises the OER, created by LLA; 4) deals with the impacts of OER on the learning process, the problems in the use of OER and reveals the pedagogical pre-conditions for its use.

CROSSING THE BORDERS OF THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE IN LITHUANIAN AND LATVIAN CHILDREN PERIODICALS (1866–1940)

CROSSING THE BORDERS OF THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE IN LITHUANIAN AND LATVIAN CHILDREN PERIODICALS (1866–1940)

Colonial Patterns in Latvian Popular Enlightenment Literature

The article addresses the question of colonial interpretation of Latvian secular literature of the late 18th and early 19th century. It has been argued recently that because of the colonial language used by contemporaries to describe ethnically determined social relationships between Baltic peasants and the German upper class in the Enlightenment era in the Baltics, it would be possible to expand the understanding of peasant enlightenment by applying to it theoretical approaches of postcolonial studies. Aspects of colonial features in the peasant discourse of the 18th century Baltics are analyzed in the article by paying special attention to their role in creating the secular writing praxis in the Latvian language.

E-Planner for Physical Education on the Secondary School Level in Latvia

Abstract An innovative planning and assessment tool for the subject of Physical Education (PE) on the secondary school level has been created in the course of this research project. Evaluation of the research on the Latvian assessment system in PE has shown the current need for an online based curriculum planning tool (e-planner) which would help teachers to effectively and qualitatively determine the levels of knowledge, skills, personal trait attributes and development dynamics in PE. This finding has served as basis for the hypothesis of the work: creating an e-planner will have a positive influence on the planning and evaluation processes in the subject of Physical Education on secondary level. The author set put to determine the theoretical foundation and the desired content of the E-planner according to the curriculum standard of PE on the secondary level in Latvia and create the planner based on the free Google Forms online platform. Study included the evaluation of teachers’ opinion about using the E-planner for planning and evaluation purposes. The result of this project is the first on-line curriculum planning tool in the Latvian language which is based on the modern theoretical understanding of student-centered planning and the assessment approach in education. Implementing such a tool on a state level across the disciplines would improve the quality of planning and instruction in schools.

THE LATVIANS OF BASHKIRIA IN SOURCES AND MATERIALS

The relevance of researching of Latvians of Bashkiria determined by the new creation of diasporas, the increasing role of the few ethnic groups, the need to address issues of harmonization of interethnic relations, based on the experience of public policy. The purpose of this paper is an introduction to the scientific revolution of sources and materials about Latvians Bashkiria, past the shaping of ethnic group in the XIX and XX centuries, cconsolidation with local peoples, social upheaval in the Soviet state, to assimilate now. Integrated approach and comparative historical analysis allowed to compare the information of foreign and domestic authors, published in Latvian and Russian languages. First identified materials on the formation, development and the elimination of Latvian farms in Bashkiria, forced displacement in multi-ethnic village during collectivization, mass political repression. The role of the Latvian folk revival in the economy and optimization of economic activity of the country. Traced the life of the Diaspora in the development and objectively.

The acquisition of the Latvian language as the Second language at preschool age in theory and practice

The acquisition of the Latvian language as the Second language at preschool age in theory and practice

Construction and Psychometric Properties of Sentence Repetition Test (SRT) for Latvian Primary School Children

This study was conducted to determine psychometric properties of newly developed Sentence Repetition Test (SRT). The test evaluates ability to recall orally presented sentences in Latvian language, and it was constructed specifically for junior primary school children. The sample consisted of 136 first and second graders aged 7 to 9 years (52% girls). Final version of Sentence Repetition Test is composed of 12 items in increasing level of difficulty. Spearman-Brown split-half reliability coefficient of the test is sufficiently high to recognize SRT as reliable. Convergent and concurrent validities of the test were determined in smaller sub-sample of 64 children, using measurements of Digit Span sub-test from Latvian edition of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (Wechsler, 2003) and Phoneme Segmentation Fluency from Latvian edition of Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS Next) (Good & Kaminski et al., 2011; Rascevska et al., 2013a). Sentence Repetition Test has medium strong statistically significant correlations with both tests. The study affirms sufficient reliability and validity of the new test. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n4p104

Normalization and Automatized Sentiment Analysis of Contemporary Online Latvian Language

Normalization and Automatized Sentiment Analysis of Contemporary Online Latvian Language

POLISH LANGUAGE IN REZEKNE TODAY. PHONETICS

POLISH LANGUAGE IN REZEKNE TODAY. PHONETICS