Supplement to magazine ZINTIS
LATVIAN SELF TAUGHT
by Ojārs Krātiņš
The Alphabet and Pronunciation
| Latvian Alphabet | Pronunciation | International Phonetic Alphabet |
|---|---|---|
| A a | close to a in eastern U.S. farm [fam] e.g., balts, white a mati, hair; labi, well (adv.) |
[a] |
| B b | same as in English, e.g. bet, but b bikses, trousers; bez, without |
[b] |
| C c | as ts in tsar, e.g. cik, how much c acs, eye; cept, to bake |
[ts] |
| Č č | as ch in chin, e.g. četri, four č čeks, cheque; buča, kiss |
[tʃ] |
| Ch ch | as ch in the Scottish loch, e.g. chaoss [xaos], chaos ch cholera, cholera; šachs, chess |
[x] |
| D d | same as in English, e.g. divi, two d desmit, ten; durvis, door; daba, nature |
[d] |
| Dz dz | as ds in birds, e.g. dzert, to drink dz redze, the sense of sight; dzert, to drink |
[dz] |
| Dž dž | as j in joy, e.g. dadži, thistles dž bundža, tin can |
[dʒ] |
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