The Two Latvian e's
The letter e can stand for a pronunciation like the vowel in English bet or the one in English bat. The vowel of the first example word is said with the lips slightly apart; the vowel of the second example word is said with the mouth even more open. Thus, the two types of e's are traditionally know as the 'close' e (šaurais e), and the 'open' e (platais e), respectively.
The 'close' e
Although there are exceptions, the choice of pronunciation does follow some rules. Thus, the close pronunciation is used when:
- the e is the last letter of a word
Examples: zāle 'grass', svilpe 'whistle', bite 'bee'
- the vowel of the following syllable is i or e
(Note: the vowels i or e are said with the front of the tongue raised towards the hard palate.)
Examples: zeme 'land, soil', ābele 'apple tree', ezis 'hedgehog', četri 'four'
- the following consonant is palatal(ized) - that is, said with the front of the tongue raised/near the front of the hard palate. In Latvian, these are the consonants represented by the letters ķ ģ č dž š ž ņ ļ j.
Examples: ceļš 'road', mežs 'forest', dzeja 'poem'
These same rules apply if the letter stands for a long vowel ē:
- ē is last letter of a word: nē 'no'
- the vowel of the following syllable is i or e
Examples: klēpis 'lap', ērglis 'eagle', sēdēt 'to sit', mērcēt 'to soak'
- the following consonant is palatal(ized)
Examples: sēņot 'to pick mushrooms', mērķis 'goal', tēja 'tea'
The 'open' e:
In the other circumstances, the pronunciation of e or ē is typically open:
- when NOT at the end of a word
Examples: zelts 'gold', dēls 'son', plecs 'shoulder', bērzs 'birch tree'
- when the vowel of the following syllable is u, o or a
Examples: cena 'price', elpot 'to breathe', deguns 'nose', bēda 'sorrow'
- when the following consonant is NOT palatal(ized)
Examples: svēts 'holy', zēns 'boy', tēvs 'father', krekls 'shirt'
The Alternation in Pronunciation
The reality of these rules is most evident when you compare words which have the same roots:
| root
| meaning
| close e
| meaning
| open e
| meaning
|
| cep-
| cook, fry
| cepetis
| fried chop
| cepums
| cookie
|
| deg-
| burn
| degviela
| fuel
| degu
| I'm burning
|
| vec-
| old
| vecis
| old man
| vecs
| old (adj.)
|
|
|
| veči
| old people
| vecums
| old age
|
| ēd-
| eat
| ēdiens
| food
| ēdams
| edible
|
| bēg-
| flee, run
| bēglis
| refugee
| bēgums
| ebbing/low tide
|
|
|
| bēgšu
| I shall flee
| bēgu
| I am fleeing
|
| slēg-
| close, lock
| slēdzis
| a lock
| atslēga
| key
|
| lēn-
| slow
| lēnītēm
| slowly bit by bit
| lēnām
| slowly
|
| tē(v)-
| father
| tētis
| Dad
| tēvocis
| uncle (lit. 'little father')
|
| dzer-
| drink
| dzēriens
| a drink
| dzeru
| I'm drinking
|
| vē(j)-
| blow
| vējš
| wind
| vētra
| storm
|
Possible Exceptions:
However, there are a fair number of words which do not follow these rules, as the following table shows:
| close e
| meaning
| open e
| meaning
|
| telts
| tent
| zelts
| gold
|
| svērt
| to weigh
| lēts
| cheap
|
| pērt
| to flog, whip
| bērns
| child
|
Nevertheless, even the words which behave exceptionally follow certain patterns:
| close e
| meaning
| explanation
| open e
| meaning
| explanation
|
| telts
| tent
| foreign borrowing
| zelts
| gold
|
|
| svērt
| to weigh
| verb infinitve
| lēts
| cheap
| adjective
|
| pērt
| to spank
| verb infinitve
| bērns
| child
|
|
Thus, words which at first blush appear to be exceptions can be accounted for if one looks at the type of word involved.
Classed according to Part of Speech
If we look closely, we can see that certain parts of speech (i.e. syntactic categories) and certain morphemes (prefixes, suffixes, etc.) typically exhibit certain preferences:
Close e:
- pronouns: es 'I', mēs 'we'
- conjunctions: bet 'but'
- prepositions: zem 'below'
- verb infinitives: svērt 'to weigh', ēst 'to eat', vemt 'to vomit'
- foreign/borrowed nouns: telts 'tent', ceremonija 'ceremony', delegācija 'delegation', marmelāde 'marmelade'
- prefix ne- meaning 'not': nezāle 'weed; lit. not-herb', neaug 'doesn't grow'
Open e:
- adjectives: vecs 'old', lēts 'cheap', svēts 'holy', sens 'ancient', cēls 'noble'
- adverbs: ērti 'comfortably'
- nouns with diminutive suffix -ēns: dēlēns 'little son'
True Exceptions
Nevertheless, there are still exceptions. The following pairs of words belong to the same syntactic category, and still exhibit different pronunciations of e:
| part of speech
| close e
| meaning
| open e
| meaning
|
| noun
| klēts
| barn, granary
| spēks
| strength
|
| noun
| mēness
| moon
| ūdens
| water
|
There's not much that can be done about this except to start memorizing!