Leivu dialect
{{Short description|Extinct dialect of South Estonian}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Leivu
| region = Gauja
| familycolor = Uralic
| fam2 = Finnic
| fam3 = South Estonian
| extinct = 1988, with the death of Anton Bok
| map = South Estonian language area.jpg
| mapcaption = South Estonian, including Leivu
| glotto = leiv1235
| glottorefname = Leivu
| ethnicity = Gauja Estonians
| states = Latvia
| isoexception = dialect
}}
The Leivu dialect is an extinct dialect of South Estonian that was spoken in North Latvia around the Gauja river by the Gauja Estonians. It became extinct in 1988 when the last speaker Anton Bok (1908–1988) died.{{cite web |title=Linguistica Uralica, 2010. Quantity in Leivu |url=https://www.kirj.ee/public/Linguistica_Uralica/2010/issue_1/ling-2010-1-1-16.pdf |website=kirj.ee |access-date=8 February 2024}} However there are many recordings of the dialect. The Leivu dialect most closely resembles the Hargla sub-dialect of Võro but was influenced by the Latvian language{{cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281583873 |title=Quantity of Leivu – Estonian language island in contact situation |date=August 2010 |author=Pire Teras |via=ResearchGate}} and possibly even Livonian.Dahl, Östen & Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria: The Circum-Baltic Languages: Grammar and typology
In the year 1782, the dialect was spoken by thousands of people, in 1849 around 2600 knew the dialect and in 1935 only about 131 knew or spoke it.Marjo Mela. "Läti eestlased. Ajalugu, keel ja kultuur". Eesti Keele Sihtasutus. Tallinn 2007 lk 33-34
In 1911, Finnish linguist Heikki Ojansuu went to document the Leivu dialect along with the Ludza and Kraasna dialects.{{Cite web|url=https://deepbaltic.com/2016/11/14/maq-sinnu-sali-the-south-estonian-dialect-spoken-in-deepest-latvia/|title = "Maq Sinnu Sali": The South Estonian Dialect Spoken in Deepest Latvia|date = 14 November 2016}}
Phonology
Due to Latvian influence, the sounds s and z have changed into š and ž. For example: {{lang|fiu-EE|suži}} ‘wolf’, {{lang|fiu-EE|püššü}} ‘gun’. There has also been a loss of the consonant /h/ in many words and it is usually replaced by a stød such as in: {{lang|fiu-EE|ra’a}} ‘money’, {{lang|fiu-EE|vä’ämb}} ‘less’.
The first syllable was pronounced longer than in other South-Estonian dialects, for example {{lang|fiu-EE|mùnà}} ‘egg’.
Lexicon
- {{lang|fiu-EE|ria}} = rake
- {{lang|fiu-EE|püäbä}} = Sunday
- {{lang|fiu-EE|vaijõr}} = maple
- {{lang|fiu-EE|jaijõ}} = chilly
- {{lang|fiu-EE|na’a}} = skin
- {{lang|fiu-EE|pä’ä}} = head
- {{lang|fiu-EE|jèma}} = mother
- {{lang|fiu-EE|eza}} = father
- {{lang|fiu-EE|terä}} = seed, grain
- {{lang|fiu-EE|tarõ}} = room
See also
References
{{Reflist}}{{Uralic languages}}