Latgalian language: Difference between revisions

The modern Latgalian literary tradition started to develop in the 18th century from vernaculars spoken by Latvians in the eastern part of Latvia. The first surviving book published in Latgalian is "Evangelia toto anno" (''Gospels for the whole year'') in 1753. The first systems of orthography were borrowed from [[Polish language|Polish]] and used [[Antiqua (typeface class)|Antiqua]] letters. It was very different from the German-influenced orthography, usually written in [[Blackletter]] or [[Gothic script]], used for the Latvian language in the rest of Latvia. Many Latgalian books in the late 18th and early 19th century were authored by [[Jesuit]] priests, who came from various European countries to Latgale as the north-eastern outpost of the [[Roman Catholic]] religion; their writings included religious literature, calendars, and poetry.

 

 

After the repeal of the ban in 1904, there was a quick rebirth of the Latgalian literary tradition; first newspapers, textbooks, and grammar appeared. In 1918 [[Latgale]] became part of the newly created Latvian state. From 1920 to 1934 the two literary traditions of Latvians developed in parallel. A notable achievement during this period was the original translation of the [[New Testament]] into Latgalian by the priest and scholar {{Ill|Aloizijs Broks|ltg|Aloizs Broks}}, published in [[Aglona]] in 1933. After the coup staged by [[Kārlis Ulmanis]] in 1934, the subject of the Latgalian dialect was removed from the school curriculum and was invalidated for use in state institutions; this was as part of an effort to standardize Latvian language usage. Latgalian survived as a spoken language in [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet Latvia]] (1940–1991) while printed literature in Latgalian virtually ceased between 1959 and 1989. In emigration, some Latgalian intellectuals continued to publish books and studies of the Latgalian language, most notably {{Ill|Mikeļs Bukšs|ltg}}.