Livonian

Livonian is a language spoken in Latvia. It is a member of the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family and is closely related to Estonian and Finnish. Livonian is spoken by about 30 people and is considered to be a critically endangered language. Livonian is thought to have originated in the 13th century, when speakers of the Finnic languages began to settle in what is now Latvia. The language began to decline in the 18th century, when speakers began to switch to Latvian, which was the language of the ruling class. By the early 20th century, Livonian was spoken by only a few hundred people. Livonian has been written using the Latin alphabet since the 19th century. In the early 21st century, efforts are underway to revive the language, and there are now a few hundred speakers of Livonian.