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Glite Dictionary
Lettish

Lettish

9.9
An older name for the Latvian language spoken in Latvia
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : letón
  • Few people use the term Lettish today, preferring 'Latvian' instead.

Examples

  • Some old grammar books refer to the language as Lettish.

  • He decided to learn Lettish before traveling to Riga.

  • The Lettish language has a rich history.

  • Many people are learning Lettish today.

  • Few people use the term Lettish today, preferring 'Latvian' instead.

  • Some old grammar books refer to the language as Lettish.

  • He decided to learn Lettish before traveling to Riga.

Synonyms

Latvian
vsLettish
1 6.8

The language spoken in Latvia

is an older name for the same language rather than the modern term
Lett
vsLettish
  • Archaic
9.9

An old name for the Latvian language or a person from Latvia

refers only to the older language name and not to people

Surface Forms

Lettish singular
Lettish plural

Morphology

Lettish = Lett (semi-transparent) = Lett + ish

Formed by the productive demonym/adjectival suffix '-ish' on 'Lett'; however 'Lett' is an archaic/obscure base, so knowledge transfer for learners is limited.

Etymology

Lettish comes from the old word Lett, which meant 'a Latvian'. It was used to name the language people spoke in Latvia, but today we usually call that language 'Latvian', so Lettish feels old-fashioned.