Language Scientific’s Latvian Translation Services
Language Scientific provides premium Latvian translation services, supplying technical, medical and scientific translation, localization and interpreting into and out of Latvian. We are a US-based language services company serving over 1,500 global corporations. Our specialization, focus, industry-leading quality management standards and customer-centered attitude have earned us the trust of many of the world’s best technology, engineering, biomedical and pharmaceutical companies.
Language Scientific has two divisions—Technical and Engineering Localization and Translation Services Division and Medical and Pharmaceutical Localization and Translation Services Division. Both groups provide a full range of Latvian language services including:
- Latvian Translation (Medical and Technical)
- Latvian Software and Mobile App Localization
- Latvian Website Translation and SEO Optimization
- Latvian Multimedia and eLearning Localization
- Professional Interpreting in Latvian
- Latvian Linguistic Validation and Cognitive Debriefing
- Latvian Transcreation Services
- Latvian On-Demand Phone Interpreting
- Latvian DTP and Graphics
- Corporate Technical Consulting
- Multilingual Transcription Services
- Latvian Project Staffing
We offer a unique depth of subject-matter expertise via our Advanced Scientific Knowledge network (ASKnetwork™) and globalization know-how for companies in the Aerospace & Defense, Chemical, Clinical Research, Energy, Healthcare, Industrial Manufacturing, Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, Technology and related industries. Our ASKnetwork™ of over 6,000 specialists comprises multilingual engineers, doctors and scientists working in over 75 countries on 5 continents.
Language Scientific’s unique Accreditation Program for Technical and Medical Translators, along with a rigorous Quality Management System, ensures the quality standards that our clients have come to depend on. Language Scientific’s Quality Management System is ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 17100:2015 certified.
At Language Scientific, we are driven by the mission to set the new Standard of Quality for technical translation and localization. It is this mission that drives our success and sets us apart as a company. When you need precise global communication, Language Scientific is the clear choice.
Latvian Language Statistics/Facts
Latvian, also referred to as Lettish or Latviešu, is the official state language of Latvia and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are 1.5 million native speakers of Latvian worldwide, with 1.2 million native speakers living in Latvia. There are Latvian speaking communities on a smaller scale living in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Lithuania, Brazil and other countries. The popularity and use of the Latvian language is increasing day by day in Latvia.
Latvian is categorized under the Indo–European language family and belongs to the Baltic language group. Latvian is the sister language of Lithuanian and most closely related to Lithuanian, but they are not mutually intelligible.
Dialects of Latvian
| Dialect | Region |
| Livonian dialect | It was arisen from assimilated Livonians, who started to speak in Latvian and assimilated Livonian grammar into Latvian. |
| Middle dialect | Spoken in Central and Southwestern Latvia |
| High Latvian dialect | dialectSpoken in Eastern Latvia |
Countries Where Latvian Is Spoken
- Australia
- Estonia
- Lithuania
- Ukraine
- Belarus
- Germany
- Russia
- United Kingdom
- Brazil
- Ireland
- Sweden
- United States
- Canada
- Latvia
Latvian-Speaking Country Data
Country: Latvia
Capital: Riga
Population: 1,944,643
Parliamentary Republic: President Raimonds Vējonis and Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis
Currency: Euro
GDP (ppp): $25,700
Unemployment: 9.6%
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Industries: Chemicals and petrochemicals, metal working, machine building, washing machines and electronics
Country: Lithuania
Capital: Vilnius
Population: 2,823,859
Semi-Presidential Republic: President Dalia Grybauskaitė and Prime Minister Saulius SKVERNELIS
Currency: Euro
GDP (ppp): $30,000
Unemployment: 7.9%
Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic
Industries: Metal cutting machines, machine tools, electronics, mining, textile, food processing, agriculture machinery, amber
Latvian Language History
Latvian was originated from a hypothetical Indo-European language, which is called as Proto-Balto-Slavic by some linguists. Proto-Balto-Slavic was spoken around 2000 BC in the former territory of Lithuania. Around 1500 BC, Proto-Balto-Slavic split into separate Proto-Slavic and Balto-Slavic groups. Later, Proto-Baltic split into three new languages: Latvian, Lithuanian and Old Prussian (also called Borussian).
As a distinct language, Latvian emerged during several centuries by a process of consolidation of languages spoken by ancient Latgalian tribe and other Baltic tribes—Curonian, Semigallian and Selonian. As a result, these languages gradually lost their most distinct characteristics. This process began in the 13th century after the Livonian Crusade and forced Christianization, which brought these tribes under Livonian rule forming a unified political, economic and religious area.
Until the 19th century, the Latvian language was heavily influenced by German because the upper class of local society was formed by Baltic Germans. In the middle of the 19th century, “young Latvians” popularized the use of the Latvian language and led the first “Latvian National Awakening.” Participants of this movement laid the foundations for standard Latvian.
In 1908, Latvian linguists K?rlis M?lenbahs and J?nis Endzel?ns developed the modern Latvian alphabet, which slowly replaced the old orthography used before. At that time, proper names from other countries and languages were altered phonetically to fit the phonological system of Latvian.
The Latvian language was greatly affected by the policy of Russification during the years of Soviet occupation (1940–1941 and 1945–1991) because of a massive immigration from the Soviet republics of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and others followed to integrate Latvia and the other Baltic republics into the Soviet Union by means of Russian colonization. This resulted in the reduction of the proportion of ethnic Latvians within the total Latvian population from 80% in 1935 to 52% in 1989. In Soviet Latvia, most of immigrants who settled in the country did not learn Latvian. At present, Latvian is the mother tongue of more than 60% of the country’s population.
In 1991 after the re-establishment of independence, a new policy of language education was introduced with the primary declared goal being the integration of all inhabitants into the official state language, while protecting the languages of Latvia’s ethnic minorities.
For ethnic minorities living in Latvia, government-funded bilingual education is available in primary school. These programs include Russian, Jewish, Polish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Estonian and Roma schools. Latvian is also taught as a second language in the initial stages of these schools because it is Latvia’s officially declared state language and to encourage proficiency. The goal of these programs is to avoid alienation from the Latvian-speaking linguistic majority and to facilitate academic and professional opportunities.
On December 9, 1999 the Law on State Language was adopted, including several regulatory acts, which is monitored and maintained by the State Language Centre run by the Ministry of Justice. Since 2004, Latvian has become the mandatory language of instruction in public secondary schools (Form 10–12) for at least 60% of classwork.