http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2610591,00.html
There are less than a dozen native
speakers of Livonian living in Latvia today. While experts are not
very optimistic, language enthusiasts hope to keep the language of
their ancestors alive.
Even though only a handful of people speak Livonian as their mother
tongue, this Finno-Ugric language has experienced a small revival
over the past few years.
"I'm amazed by this," said Zoja Silje, a language teacher and
author of a Livonian textbook. "But some young people even think
it's hip to send each other text messages in Livonian."
Silje first came into contact with Livonian through her
grandfather, who spoke the language. She started learning her
ancestors' language as a student in the 1970s. Since then, she's
also been singing in a Livonian choir.
Livonian and Latvian, which is a Baltic language, sound very
different from each other. The Livonian alphabet has well over 30
letters, some of which seem strange to Latvians and are difficult
for them to pronounce.
The Livonians -- a people who once referred to themselves as
raandalists, "coast dwellers," or kalamied, "fishermen" -- have
populated the Baltic coastline for centuries. They made their
living from fishing and established trading contacts with other
neighboring tribes in what is now Latvia. Over time, they started
leaving their villages, moving to cities and assimilating with
other ethnic groups. By the 19th century, there were only around
2,000 of them left.
Mentality and
identity
Today, a Livonian youth group meets regularly in the Latvian
capital, Riga. Their language skills vary. Some have only been
learning it for a few months, others started speaking it as
children with their grandparents.
The group organizes trips to Mazirbe, a town on the Latvian coast
where there's a Livonian cultural center, or to camps where they
only speak Livonian to each other.
"If you learn Livonian and not Spanish, the Livonians won't die,"
said 17-year-old Beate, who started learning Livonian two years
ago.
"I will know it and teach it to my children," she said. "Everybody
wants to learn Spanish, but why would you need to go after the
fashion? I think it's a question of mentality."
According to Valts Ernstreits, an expert on Livonians in Latvia,
learning an endangered language has a lot to do with people
embarking on a quest for their identity.
"Latvian identity is very complicated," Ernstreits said. "It is
basically young. It has maybe a 500-year-long history. So it's
pretty unstable. If you can say you're Livonian, you have
identified yourself back to the 12th century."
Too little, too
late?
Livonian is officially recognized as an autochthonous Latvian
language by law. The government supports Livonian language
activities and provides funds for a state program called "Livonians
in Latvia."
But, according to Ernstreits, the opportunity to save Livonian has
been missed.
"It is basically too late now to preserve the language," said
Ernstreits. "You'd have to have very strong motivation for that.
Besides, you'd have to be able to use it. And that is the main
problem, because you don't have all those native speakers
around."
Zoja Silje would beg to differ. She believes that the language of
her ancestors will survive either way. One-hundred and fifty years
ago, people already thought that Livonian was on the verge of dying
out. But it still exists today -- and some even use it to send text
messages over their cell phones.
