Latvian belongs to the class of inflected languages which are most complex from morphological viewpoint. It has following parts of speech: nouns, adjectives, numerals, pronouns, verbs, participles, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, particles and interjections. This article is about inflection in linguistics. ... Noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members combine with other grammatical kinds of expressions. ... In grammar, an adjective is a part of speech that modifies a noun or a pronoun, usually by describing it or making its meaning more specific. ... A numeral is a symbol or group of symbols that represents a number. ... In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun phrase. ... It has been suggested that Verbal agreement be merged into this article or section. ... In linguistics, a participle is a kind of verbal adjective; it indicates that the noun it modifies is a participant in the action that the participle refers to. ... An adverb is not a part of speech. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with adposition. ... A particle is Look up Particle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary In particle physics, a basic unit of matter or energy. ... An interjection is a part of speech that usually has no grammatical connection to the rest of the sentence and simply expresses emotion on the part of the speaker, although most interjections have clear definitions. ...

Nouns

Main article: Latvian declension

Latvian nouns can be divided into declinable and indeclinable nouns. Most of Latvian nouns are declinable. Declinable nouns in Latvian are divided into seven regular declensions and three irregular. The declension of noun is determined by its ending and gender.

Adjectives

Main article: Latvian adjectives.

Adjectives in Latvian have two types of endings: the indefinite endings and definite endings. The case generation of adjectives is determined by gender and type of ending. The masculine adjectives with indefinite ending are declined as nouns of first declension, the feminine nouns with indefinite ending are declined as nouns of fourth declension. The endings of indefinite adjectives are showed in following table and endings of definite adjectives are showed in next table. The declension rules for superlative and comparative degrees are similar. In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns and adjectives to indicate such features as number (typically singular vs. ... In linguistics, declension is a paradigm of inflected nouns and adjectives. ... For the noun case, see superlative case. ... In grammar the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another. ...

Indefinite declension

Definite declension

In some cases the definite endings for adjectives with suffix -ēj- differs.

Examples

Indefinite declension

Definite declension

Definite declension with suffix -ēj-

Pronouns

Main article: Latvian pronouns.

Most of Latvian pronouns are declined as nouns of first (masculine pronouns) or forth declension (feminine pronouns). Exceptions are es (I), tu (you, singular), mēs (we), jūs (you, plural), sevis (myself), kas (who), tas (that, masculine), tā (that, feminine), šis (this, masculine), šī (this, feminine), pats (myself, masculine), pati (myself, feminine).

Examples

Paradigms of irregular pronouns

Declension of some personal pronouns es (I), tu (you, singular), mēs (we), jūs (you, plural), reflexive pronoun sevis (myself), relative pronoun kas (who), demonstrative pronouns tas (that, masculine), tā (that, feminine), šis (this, masculine), šī (this, feminine), definite pronouns pats (myself, masculine), pati (myself, feminine) differs from declension of other pronouns.

Declension of personal pronouns

Declension of reflexive pronoun sevis

Declension of relative pronoun kas

Declension of demonstrative pronouns

Declension of definite pronouns

Numerals

Main article: Latvian numerals.

In Latvian there are two types of numerals: cardinal numerals and ordinal numerals. Cardinal numerals are declinable or indeclinable. Declinable cardinal numerals are declined as indefinite adjectives and ordinal numerals are declined as definite adjectives. Exceptions are numerals trīs (three), pusotra (one and a half), pustreša (one and a third), pusceturta (one and a fourth). If numeral is compound then each constituent of numeral is declined separately.

Indeclinable are numerals which has no ending

• desmit;
• numerals 11-19: vienpadsmit, divpadsmit, trīspadsmit, četrpadsmit, piecpadsmit, sešpadsmit, septiņpadsmit, astoņpadsmit, deviņpadsmit;
• compounds with desmit: divdesmit, trīsdesmit, četrdesmit, piecdesmit, sešdesmit, septiņdesmit, astoņdesmit, deviņdesmit;
• compounds with simt: simt, divsimt, trīssiit, četrsimt, piecsimt, sešsimt, septiņsimt, astoņsimt, deviņsimt;
• compounds with tūkstoš: tūkstoš, divtūkstoš, trīstūkstoš, četrtūkstoš, piectūkstoš, seštūkstoš, septiņtūkstoš, astoņtūkstoš, deviņtūkstoš, etc.

Examples

Declension of cardinal numerals

Declension of ordinal numerals

Declension of cardinal numeral trīs

Declension of cardinal numeral pusotra

Verbs

Main article: Latvian conjugation.

Verbs in Latvian are divided into three conjugations. The the first conjugation belong all monosyllabic infinitive verbs and their compounds. To the second conjugation belong verbs which are derived with suffixes -ā, -ē, -o, -ī, -alē, -aļā, -elē, -uļo >and has lengthening syllable in imperfect and in present tenses. To the third conjugation belong verbs which are derived with suffixes -ā, -ē, -ī, -inā and has lengthening syllable in imperfect tense. Besides there are irregular verbs: būt, iet, dot. There are three simple tenses: present tense, imperfect tense and future tense and three perfect tenses: present perfect, past perfect, future perfect. Latvian verbs are used into five moods: indicative, imperative, conditional, conjunctive and debitive mood. The relations between tenses and moods are shown into following table. Conjugation may refer to: Grammatical conjugation, the modification of runnign a verb from its basic form Latin conjugation, Spanish conjugation and The English verb, each with complex conjugation forms Marriage, relationship between two individuals In mathematics: Complex conjugation, the operation which multiplies the imaginary part of a complex number by... In contrast to regular verbs, irregular verbs are those verbs that fall outside the standard patterns of conjugation in the languages in which they occur. ... The present tense is the tense (form of a verb) that is often used to express: Action at the present time A state of being A habitual action An occurrence in the near future An action that occurred in the past and continues up to the present There are two... The imperfect tense, in the classical grammar of several Indo-European languages, denotes a past tense with an imperfective aspect. ... It has been suggested that Future perfect tense be merged into this article or section. ... The perfect tenses are verb tenses showing actions completed at or before a specific time. ... For the grammatical term, see Grammatical mood. ... In linguistics, many grammars have the concept of grammatical mood, which describes the relationship of a verb with reality and intent. ... Imperative programming, as opposed to functional programming, is a sort of programming employing side-effect as central execution feature. ... Look up conditional in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

For verb conjugation the three base forms, i.e., infinitive form, present stem and past stem are used. The following table shows correspondence between base stem and tense/mood.

Passive is not very common in Latvian. Passive has several meanings: In grammar it describes a grammatical voice. ...

Participles

Main article: Latvian participles.

• Past active
• Past passive
• Present active in -dams
• Present active in -ošs
• Present active in -ot
• Present passive

References

• J.Endzelīns "Latviešu valodas gramatika", 1951
• "Mūsdienu latviešu literārās valodas gramatika", LPSR ZA izdevniecība, 1959
• T.G.Fennell, H.Gelsen "A Grammar of Modern Latvian", Mouton Publishers, 1980, vol. 1-3
• B.Ceplīte, L.Ceplītis "Latviešu valodas praktiskā gramatika", Zvaigzne, 1991
• Pietro U.Dini "Le Lingue Baltiche", La Nuova Italia Editrice, Scandicci (Firenze), 1997
• K.Karulis "Latviešu etimoloģijas vārdnīca", Avots, 2001

External links

• Latvian language materials (en/lv)
• J. Lelis - Basic Latvian - Grammar: Introduction (en)
• V. Plūdons. Practical Latvian Grammar (Cēsis, 1922) (lv)
• Introduction in History of Latvian Language (lv)
• Andronov A.V. Materials for Latvian-Russian dictionary (rus)
• Ineta Polanska. Zum Einfluss des Lettischen auf das Deutsche im Baltikum (Inaugural-Dissertation, Bamberg, 2002) (de)
• TITUS Texts: Old-Latvian Corpus (en/de/lv)