Editing Latvian language (section)

== Orthography ==
{{main|Latvian orthography|Latvian Braille}}

Latvian in [[Latin script]] was first based upon the [[German alphabet|German orthography]], while the alphabet of the Standard Latgalian variety was based on the [[Polish alphabet|Polish orthography]]. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was replaced by a more phonologically consistent orthography.

=== Standard orthography ===
Today, the Latvian standard orthography employs 33 characters:

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" colspan="33" | '''[[Capital letters|Majuscule forms]]''' (also called '''uppercase''' or '''capital letters''')
|-
| width=15|A || width=15|Ā || width=15|B || width=15|C || width=15|Č || width=15|D || width=15|E || width=15|Ē
| width=15|F || width=15|G || width=15|Ģ || width=15|H || width=15|I || width=15|Ī || width=15|J || width=15|K
| width=15|Ķ || width=15|L || width=15|Ļ || width=15|M || width=15|N || width=15|Ņ || width=15|O || width=15|P
| width=15|R || width=15|S || width=15|Š || width=15|T || width=15|U || width=15|Ū || width=15|V || width=15|Z || width=15|Ž
|-
|bgcolor="#EFEFEF" colspan="33" | '''[[Lower case|Minuscule forms]]''' (also called '''lowercase''' or '''small letters''')
|-
|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 modern standard Latvian alphabet uses 22 unmodified letters of the Latin alphabet (all except {{angbr|q, w, x, y}}, which are usually replaced by {{angbr|k(v)}}, {{angbr|v}}, {{angbr|ks}}, and {{angbr|i/j}} respectively in loanwords and even in foreign names, though they may appear in certain specialized terms such as ''status quo''; "W" can be found in older texts, "Y" can be found in the Latgalian language/dialect). It adds a further eleven characters by modification. The vowel letters {{angbr|[[a]]}}, {{angbr|[[e]]}}, {{angbr|[[i]]}} and {{angbr|[[u]]}} can take a [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]] to show length, unmodified letters being short; these letters are not differentiated while sorting (e.g. in dictionaries). The letters {{angbr|[[c]]}}, {{angbr|[[s]]}} and {{angbr|[[z]]}} are pronounced {{IPA|[ts]}}, {{IPA|[s]}} and {{IPA|[z]}} respectively, while when marked with a [[caron]], {{angbr|č, š, ž}}, they are pronounced {{IPA|[tʃ]}}, {{IPA|[ʃ]}} and {{IPA|[ʒ]}} respectively. The letters {{angbr|ģ, ķ, ļ, ņ}}, written with a comma placed underneath (or above them for lowercase ''g''), which indicate [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]] versions of {{angbr|g, k, l, n}} representing the sounds {{IPA|[ɟ]}}, {{IPA|[c]}}, {{IPA|[ʎ]}} and {{IPA|[ɲ]}}. Latvian orthography also contains nine digraphs, which are written {{angbr|ai, au, ei, ie, iu, ui, oi, dz, dž}}. Non-standard varieties of Latvian add extra letters to this standard set.

Latvian spelling has almost one-to-one correspondence between graphemes and phonemes. Every [[phoneme]] corresponds to a letter so that the reader can almost always pronounce words by putting the letters together. There are only two exceptions to this consistency in the orthography: the letters {{angbr|e, ē}} represent two different sounds: {{IPA|/ɛ æ/}} and {{IPA|/ɛː æː/}}. The second mismatch is that letter {{angbr|o}} indicates both the short and long {{IPA|[ɔ]}}, and the [[diphthong]] {{IPA|[uɔ]}}. These three sounds are written as {{angbr|o}}, {{angbr|ō}} and {{angbr|uo}} in Standard [[Latgalian language|Latgalian]], and some Latvians campaign for the adoption of this system in standard Latvian. However, Latvian grammarians argue that {{angbr|o}} and {{angbr|ō}} are found only in loanwords, with the {{IPA|/uɔ/}} sound being the only native Latvian phoneme. The digraph {{angbr|uo}} was discarded in 1914, and the letters {{angbr|ō}} and {{angbr|ŗ}} have not been used in the official Latvian language since 1946. Likewise, the digraph {{angbr|ch}} was discarded in 1957, although {{angbr|ō}}, {{angbr|ŗ}}, and {{angbr|ch}} are still used in some varieties and by many Latvians living beyond the borders of Latvia. The letter {{angbr|y}} is used only in Standard Latgalian, where it represents {{IPAslink|ɘ|ɨ}}, a sound not present in other dialects.

=== Old orthography ===
[[File:Old latvian bible.jpg|right|thumb|Latvian [[Lutheran]] [[hymnbook]] in old orthography.]]
The old [[orthography]] was based on German and did not represent the Latvian language phonemically. Initially, it was used to write religious texts for German priests to help them in their work with Latvians. The first writings in Latvian were chaotic: twelve variations for writing ''Š'' existed, for example. In 1631 the German priest [[Georg Mancelius]] tried to systematize the writing. He wrote long vowels according to their position in the word&nbsp;– a short vowel followed by ''h'' for a radical vowel, a short vowel in the suffix, and vowel with a [[diacritic]] mark in the ending indicating two accents. Consonants were written using multiple letters following the example of German. The old orthography was used until the 20th century when modern orthography slowly replaced it.

=== Latvian on computers ===
[[File:Latvian Ergonomic Keyboard Layout.png|upright=1.5|thumb|The rarely used Latvian ergonomic keyboard layout]]

In late 1992, the official Latvian computing standard LVS 8-92 took effect. It was followed by LVS 24-93 (Latvian language support for computers) that also specified the way Latvian language (alphabet, numbers, currency, punctuation marks, date and time) should be represented on computers. A Latvian ergonomic keyboard standard LVS 23-93 was also announced several months later, but it did not gain popularity due to its need for a custom-built keyboard.<ref name="Gross">{{cite web |last=Gross |first=Arnis |url=https://latviansonline.com/the-next-challenge-for-the-latvian-language/ |title=The Next Challenge for the Latvian Language |date=July 4, 2015 |publisher=Latvians Online |access-date=27 October 2017}}</ref>

Nowadays standard [[QWERTY]] or the US keyboards are used for writing in Latvian; diacritics are entered by using a [[dead key]] (usually ', occasionally ~).<ref name="Gross"/> Some keyboard layouts use the [[modifier key]] [[AltGr key|AltGr]] (most notably the Windows 2000 and XP built-in layout (Latvian QWERTY), it is also default modifier in X11R6, thus a default in most Linux distributions).

In the 1990s, lack of software support of diacritics caused an unofficial style of orthography, often called ''[[Transliteration|translits]]'', to emerge for use in situations when the user is unable to access Latvian diacritic marks (e-mail, newsgroups, web user forums, chat, [[SMS]] etc.). It uses the [[List of Latin letters|basic Modern Latin alphabet]] only, and letters that are not used in standard orthography are usually omitted. In this style, diacritics are replaced by digraphs&nbsp;– a doubled letter indicates a long vowel (as in Finnish and Estonian); a following ''j'' indicates palatalisation of consonants, i.e., a cedilla; and the postalveolars ''Š'', ''Č'' and ''Ž'' are written with ''h'' replacing the [[caron|háček]], as in English. Sometimes the second letter, the one used instead of a diacritic, is changed to one of two other diacritic letters (e.g. š is written as ss or sj, not sh), and since many people may find it difficult to use these unusual methods, they write without any indication of missing diacritic marks, or they use digraphing only if the diacritic mark in question would make a semantic difference.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Veinberga |first=Linda |date=2001 |title=Latviešu valodas izmaiņas un funkcijas interneta vidē |url=http://politika.lv/ |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120524124909/http://politika.lv/ |archive-date=2012-05-24 |access-date=2007-07-28 |website=politika.lv |language=lv}}</ref> Sometimes an apostrophe is used before or after the character that would properly need to be diacriticised. Also, digraph diacritics are often used and sometimes even mixed with diacritical letters of standard orthography. Although today there is software support available, diacritic-less writing is still sometimes used for financial and social reasons. As ''š'' and ''ž'' are part of the [[Windows-1252]] coding, it is possible to input those two letters using a [[numerical keypad]]. Latvian language code for cmd and .bat files - [[Windows-1257]]

=== Comparative orthography ===
For example, the [[Lord's Prayer]] in Latvian written in different styles:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!First orthography<br>(Cosmographia Universalis, 1544)
!Old orthography, 1739<ref><u>BIBLIA</u>, published Riga, 1848 (reprint), original edition 1739; "modern" old orthographies published into the 20th century do not double consonants</ref>
!Modern orthography
!Internet-style
|-
|Muuſze Thews exkan tho Debbes
|Muhſu Tehvs debbeſîs
|'''Mūsu tēvs debesīs''' 
|''Muusu teevs debesiis'' 
|-
|Sweetyttz thope totws waerdtcz
|Swehtits lai top taws wahrds
|'''Svētīts lai top tavs vārds''' 
|''Sveetiits lai top tavs vaards'' 
|-
|Enaka mums touwe walſtibe 
|Lai nahk tawa walſtiba
|'''Lai nāk tava valstība''' 
|''Lai naak tava valstiiba'' 
|-
|Tows praetcz noteſe
|Taws prahts lai noteek
|'''Tavs prāts lai notiek''' 
|''Tavs praats lai notiek'' 
|-
|ka exkan Debbes tha arridtczan wuerſſon ſemmes
|kà debbeſîs tà arirdſan zemes wirsû
|'''Kā debesīs, tā arī virs zemes''' 
|''Kaa debesiis taa arii virs zemes'' 
|-
|Muſze beniſke mayſe bobe mums ſdjoben 
|Muhsu deeniſchtu maizi dod mums ſchodeen
|'''Mūsu dienišķo maizi dod mums šodien''' 
|''Muusu dienishkjo maizi dod mums shodien'' 
|-
|Vnbe pammet mums muſſe parrabe
|Un pametti mums muhſu parradus <small>[later parahdus]</small>
|'''Un piedod mums mūsu parādus''' 
|''Un piedod mums muusu paraadus'' 
|-
|ka mehs pammettam muſſims parabenekims
|kà arri mehs pamettam ſaweem parrahdneekeem
|'''Kā arī mēs piedodam saviem parādniekiem''' 
|''Kaa arii mees piedodam saviem paraadniekiem'' 
|-
|Vnbe nhe wedde mums exkan kaerbenaſchenne
|Un ne eeweddi muhs eekſch kahrdinaſchanas
|'''Un neieved mūs kārdināšanā''' 
|''Un neieved muus kaardinaashanaa'' 
|-
|Seth atpeſthmums no to loune
|bet atpeſti muhs no ta launa <small>[later łauna]</small>
|'''Bet atpestī mūs no ļauna''' 
|''Bet atpestii muus no ljauna'' 
|-
|Aefto thouwa gir ta walſtibe
|Jo tew peederr ta walſtiba
|'''Jo tev pieder valstība''' 
|''Jo tev pieder valstiiba'' 
|-
|Vnbe tas ſpeez vnb tas Goobtcz tur muſſige. 
|Un tas ſpehks un tas gods muhſchigi <small>[later muhzigi]</small>. 
|'''Spēks un gods mūžīgi. '''
|''Speeks un gods muuzhiigi.'' 
|-
|Amen. 
|Amen. 
|'''Āmen.''' 
|''Aamen.'' 
|}