Latvian culture in words

Latvian Song Festival,
New York, 1958, when Peters was a mere toddler. Given Peters' father's involvement in the Latvian community — his masthead still tops the congregation newsletter — Peters assumes his parents attended. But if he was there, he doesn't remember.

At their most basic level, words are tools to express ourselves. But as we explored  on the previous page, they can also be a touchstone to a culture and people.

• Song, dziesma, and music play a central role in Latvian culture. There is a strong tradition of choral singing and folk dancing. Latvian Song and Dance Festival Festivals↗ are held, usually at four year intervals, in Latvia and abroad, the largest ones being held in the US and Canada. Cities that have hosted past festivals include Chicago, London, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, Boston, Indianapolis, and New York. See First US Latvian Song Festival A beloved folk song begins:

  Dziedot dzimu, dziedot augu,

  Aijā, dziedot augu,

  Dziedot mūžu nodzīvoj`.

  Singing I was born, singing I grew up,

  Aijā, singing I grew up,

  Singing I spent my whole life, living.

  ...

  Trīcēj` kalni, skanēj` meži,

  Kad dziedāju, gavilēj`.

  The hills shuddered, the forests resounded

  When I sang, when I exulted.

  ...

  Aijā is a refrain in Latvian lullabies.

  Dziedot dzimu at the Toronto Song and Dance Festival

• The sun, saule, holds a special place in Latvian culture and folklore, symbolizing life and fertility. Notably, when someone passes away, they are said to have gone into the aizsaule, beyond the sun.

  One measure of the significance of saule is the variations in its sign. See Latvian signs, swastikas, and mittens At its simplest, saule is represented by a simple circle or a square on the diagonal. From there we have ever more complex elaborations. For example1—note the "rose" motifs have a square on the diagonal at center:

  

  Saule signs derived from a square

  

  Saule signs derived from a circle/rose

  

  

  

  Sun sign embellishments. pages 11–13 An ABC of Latvian Signs

• Līgo, a refrain associated with the summer solstice Līgo svētki, Līgo festival, also known as Jāņi. People gather to sing traditional songs, dance, and enjoy the shortest night of the year.
• Jāņi, the other name for the summer solstice festival but more specifically referring to the day. Traditions include bonfires, flower crowns, and special foods. Which brings up the question even Latvians ask themselves:

  Which is it, Līgo svētki or Jāņi?

  On the 21st of June we celebrate the summer solstice — the occurrence of the longest day and shortest night. In exactly the same manner, six months later — around the 21st of December — we celebrate the winter solstice, when the night is the longest and day the shortest. Christmas starts December 25th, while Christmas eve is December 24th. It is exactly the same with Jāņi — June 23rd, when we head out to nature, weave crowns of flowers and leaves, engage in group dancing, celebrate Jāņi eve, obviously, culminating on Jāņi morning when, having awaited and greeted the sunrise, we head for a nap, after awakening from which we bid adieu to Jāņi.

  Once upon a time, the day before Jāņi was called Zāļu diena (Day of Grasses), the evening before Jāņi, Zāļu vakars (Eve of Grasses). With all the līgošanu — singing "Līgo" songs — during Jāņi, the monikers of Līgo Day and Līgo Eve have taken hold. But let us not forget that the true Latvian holiday which we celebrate is Jāņi. We drink at weddings but we don't call it the "Drinking festival"; we sing "kaladu" at Christmas, but we don't call it the Kaladu festival; etc.

  Thus, at Jāņi, let us sing Jāņi songs, pluck Jāņi-grasses, and fulfill the rituals of Jāņi.2

  

  Linaria vulgaris, parastā vīrcele, common toadflax3

  Yes, Jāni-grasses, jāņuzāles are "a thing." These are any of a number of grasses which flower around the summer solstice, including Galium aparine↗, Galium verum↗, Galium mollugo↗, Melampyrum nemorosum↗, and Linaria vulgaris↗.

  Read more about the intersection of Christianity and paganism — with pagan holiday names prevailing, at Latvian signs, swastikas, and mittens

  Speaking of Christmas, it has simply been subsumed into celebrating the winter solstice: Ziemas svētki, Winter festival. Latvians intermix and sing carols and pagan songs with equal enthusiasm. A pagan song specific to the winter solstice celebration is called a kalada.

  

  Pirts construction diagram, early 20th century4
• Pirts, sauna, a place for physical and spiritual cleansing. Latvians insist the Estonians and Finns stole the concept from the Latvians. By the 19th century, every Latvian homestead had a (unisex) pirts, which served both as a sauna and a bathhouse. Switching to promote circulation is part of the ritual.
• Zāles. Not necessarily a word of great significance, yet if we were looking for a cultural touchstone, Latvians use the same word for grasses and medicine. If we discount medicinal herbs, the only other equivalents we have found are in languages of native Americans, in Algonquian (mashkiki), Siouan (pȟežúta), and Aztec (tēpatl).

Every language has words embodying nuances which can require far more words to communicate in other languages.

• bizbizmārīte — a small round spotted or spotted beetle, most commonly referring to the ladybug beetle.
• čučēt or čučāt — to slumber, to sleep sweetly, specific to children in their crib or bed, and related...
• čūčalāties — to dawdle or to be slow, messy, or sloppy in doing something; to work (as if) half-asleep;
• drēgns — weather that is cold, wet, and miserable and settles in your bones and makes you ache.
• dzelzceļš — "iron road", railroad — it can be a tongue-twister (see below).
• ēdelīgs — that feeling when you don't want a big meal but you can't stop raiding the fridge and the cupboard for something to nosh.
• omulīgs — "cozy", but more than cozy, embodies friendship, family, closeness, grandmothers who bake pies on Sundays, probably closest to the Danish hyggeligt derived from the term hygge (this would be omulīgums as a noun in Latvian) which is a core concept in Danish culture. While often translated as coziness, or comfort, hygge doesn't have a direct English equivalent. As in Latvian, it encompasses a sense of warmth, contentment, and well-being, often associated with enjoying simple pleasures such as as a welcoming and warm room or a friendly gathering.
• graudaugi — cereal; like dzelzceļš, another descriptive word meaning "[stuff consisting of] grown (augi) grains (graudi)", whereas "cereal"'s origin is more hoity-toity, derived from the Roman (Latin) Cerēs, the goddess of grain, and Cerealis meaning "of Ceres".
• izķepuroties — ķepuroties means to flail or thrash about, so izķepuroties is to escape by flailing, as an animal from a trap.
• izlutināt — to spoil (not as in food);
• kaulēties — haggling; however, kauls is the word for "bone", so, literally "boning," a rather unfortunate turn of vocabulary
• laipa — specific to a plank or log used to create a crossing (single or in multiples thereof) over a rivulet, ditch, or along a footpath, and related...
• laipot or laipoties — specific to walking in a manner as to avoid puddles, mud, etc. carefully placing one's feet while progressing.
• mēstūle — junk mail, a mash-up of mēsli, fertilizer made from dung, and vēstūle, letter.
• pabužināt — root word bužināt meaning to run fingers through or tousle hair (person) or fur (animals). Latvian uses compound words to elucidate or refine a basic action. The "pa" in pabužināt means to do something but not in a thorough manner, or to do it lightly. For example, tīrīt means to clean; so patīrīt means to just tidy up or sweep up a bit. Our favorite word here is actually the ap-, or "all around" variant which technically isn't in the dictionary:
• apbužināt — for example, rubbing your doggie or other "fur baby" all over with enthusiasm and love.
• plunčāties — to merrily splash about with great joy.

Purvu bruņurupucis, European pond turtle

• bruņurupuči — turtles (plural), bruņurupucis singular; also just rupucis. Bruņ- means "armored", from bruņots. The purvu bruņurupucis, European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis), is on Latvia's endangered species list.
• cepeškrāsns — baking oven
• diņģēties — haggling, same meaning as kaulēties above
• dzelzceļš — already mentioned, railroad, with the variant...
• šaursliežu dzelzceļš — narrow-gauge railway
• panda priecīgi plunčājas — more alliteration, "the panda is happily splashing about", excuse to include the video
• pundurbruņurupucītis — itsy-bitsy baby turtle
• teleļūrs — another word for televizors, television
• visneiedomājamākais — "the most unimaginable," note in a single word
• žagaru saisķis — bundled branches as in a rustic broom
• žeņsenš — a medicinal plant

On the lighter side, from Jess on a quest's YouTube channel↗, original and follow-on part 2 of "American girl tries to speak Latvian":

And on pronouncing Latvian, from Anete Germane's YouTube channel↗, lessons below. If you go to her YouTube channel, the rune masquerading as a "g" in "irregular" is zalktis, associated with knowledge.

As compared to twenty or even ten years ago, there are a plethora of opportunities to learn Latvian online. If you are interested in everyday conversational Latvian, one site that is free and easy to use and navigate is at LingoHut. It's neatly packaged in situations and associated words and phrases, all with auto-play audio of vocabulary. (We have no relationship with the site.) If you've had experiences with Latvian language courses and would like to share a review, please let us know, and rate using to stars.

• Free Latvian lessons↗ —  “Navigating LingoHut to learn Latvian is like going on a personalized cultural tour; every lesson is an opportunity to dig deeper into the soul of Latvia. Each 5-minute session is filled with a variety of activities and games aimed at honing your vocabulary and perfecting your pronunciation, all crafted to make the language accessible. The platform employs a drip-feed methodology to ensure that every new word or phrase is firmly planted in your memory, ready for you to use in conversations with locals, whether you are in the bustling markets of Riga↗ or the serene landscapes of Gauja National Park↗.” — as described on their site.