|
Livonian ( or ) belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic languages. It is a moribund language, with its last native speaker having died in 2013.〔 It is closely related to Estonian. The native land of the Livonian people is the Livonian Coast, located in Latvia, in the north of the Kurzeme peninsula. Some ethnic Livonians are learning or have learned the language in an attempt to revive it, but as ethnic Livonians are a small minority, opportunities to use Livonian are limited. The Estonian newspaper ''Eesti Päevaleht'' erroneously announced that Viktors Bertholds, who died on 28 February 2009, was the last native speaker who started the Latvian-language school as a monolingual.〔 (''Eesti Päevaleht'' ) "" ("The last native speaker of Livonian from the older generation has died"), March 4, 2009.〕 Some other Livonians argued, however, that there are some native speakers left, including Viktors Bertholds' cousin, Grizelda Kristiņa. Kristiņa died in 2013.〔 An article published by the Foundation for Endangered Languages in 2007 stated that there were only 182 registered Livonians and a mere six native speakers. In a 2009 conference proceeding, it was mentioned that there could be "at best 10 living native" speakers of the language. The promotion of the Livonian language as a living language has been advanced mostly by Livonian Cultural Centre ('), an organisation of mostly young Livonians. Livonian as a lesser used language in Latvia – along with Latgalian – is represented by the Latvian Bureau of Lesser Used Languages (LatBLUL), formerly a national branch of the European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL). The language is taught in universities in Latvia, Estonia and Finland, which constantly increases the pool of second-language speakers who do not constantly reside in Latvia. == History == In the nineteenth century, about 2,000 people still spoke Livonian; in 1852, the number of Livonians was 2,394. Various historical events have led to the near total language death of Livonian: * In the thirteenth century, speakers of Livonian numbered 30,000. * The German invasion: around the year 1200, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the Teutonic knights conquered Livonia, leading to contention of rule of the area between these orders and the Archbishopric of Riga. * 1522: The introduction of the Reformation. * 1557: The Russian invasion. * 1558-1583: Livonian War. Russians, Swedes, Danes, Lithuanians and Poles fought over the area. * 1721: The Treaty of Nystad. Livonia and Courland became provinces of Tsarist Russia. * 1918: The founding of Latvia; the Livonian language re-blossomed. * World War II and Soviet Union: Marginalization of Livonian. * Declared extinct on the 6 of June 2013. The Livonians' ancestors settled in Livonia in the first half of the 1st millennium B.C., probably moving along the Daugava. In the 13th century, the native Livonians inhabited the Estonian counties Alempois, Jogentagana Järva, Läänemaa, Mõhu, Nurmekund, Sakala, Ugandi, and Vaiga in the north, and by the Daugava in the south. The Livonian settlement of Curonia was also begun then. In the 12th-13th centuries the Livonian lands were conquered the Teutonic Order. The conquest led to a strong decrease in the number of speakers Livonian language, empty Livonian lands inhabited by the Latvians, which contributed to the replacement of the Livonian language in favor of Latvian. It's estimated that at the time of the German colonization, there were 30,000 Livonians. In the 19th century the number of speakers of the Couronian dialect is estimated as follows: 2,074 people in 1835, 2,324 people in 1852, 2,390 people in 1858, 2,929 people in 1888. According to the Soviet Census of 1989, 226 people were Livonian, and almost half of them spoke Livonian. According to estimates of the Liv Culture Center in 2010, only 40 people spoke Livonian in everyday life. In 2013, there were none who spoke Livonian in everyday life. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Livonian language」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|