Livonian and its speech area

Livonian belongs to the Southern Finnic group of the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic language family. It was spoken primarily in the area of ​​present-day Latvia on both sides of the Gulf of Rīga, though Livonian settlement also extended to the southwestern corner of present-day Estonia.

The variety of Livonian, which, despite the twists and turns of history, still has speakers in the 21st century, is the Courland Livonian language. This textbook is about this form of the language. It is customary to divide Courland Livonian into the East Livonian and West Livonian dialects. The Livonian villages of Courland, starting from the westernmost, are Paţikmǭ (Latvian: Oviši), Lūž (Lūžņa), Pizā (Miķeļtornis), Īra (Lielirbe) – the West Livonian dialect was spoken in these. The language spoken in the village of Īra, located on the banks of the Īra River, has sometimes also been considered a central dialect or a transitional zone between West and East Livonian. The East Livonian dialect area included Ūžkilā (Jaunciems), Sīkrõg (Sīkrags), Irē (Mazirbe), Kuoštrõg (Košrags), Pitrõg (Pitrags), Sǟnag (Saunags), Vaid (Vaide), Kūolka (Kolka), Mägkilā (Uši), Mustānum (Melnsils), Gipk (Ģipka).

The Livonian Coast and northern Courland (map: Tiit-Rein Viitso)