Livonian language preservation

[Satem]

Livonians used to be the indigenious group of people living in North Latvia and South-Western Estonia.
Now, the only place with preserved Livonian identity is near the Cape Kolka(black area on the map below)
Liguistically, Livonian language is Finnic language, the closest languge to Livonian is Estonian

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Liivi_keel.GIF

Livonian language officially has status of dead language since there are no Livonian native speakers, but there are few hundred of people who use it everyday despite it's the language they learnt. There are some projects that learn a bit about the Livonians and unable people to learn the basics of Livonian language.
For example these websites(both are available in English):

http://www.livones.net/en/valoda

http://virtuallivonia.info/


Also recently there was serie of 7 Livonian language lessons but actually it's more about Livonians and their history itself, than language learning serie.
Anyway here is the first episode of them(they speak Latvian and Livonian in the videos but there are English subtitles) which is introduction to series


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0jK5YXXut4

[TheMaestro]

blyatiful

[Sandis]

I will add that in this video is heard Courland Livonian (Western Livonian) language. Courland Livonian has 3 dialects, and literary language is based on the Eastern dialect.
Vidzeme Livonian (Eastern Livonian) died in 19th century. Last known Vidzeme Livonian speaker died in 1868.
Courland Livonian survived longer because they were more isolated.

[Sandis]

There are still many questions about Livonian ethnogenesis and Livonian language to be investigated.
The main view for many years is that Livonians continuously lived in the territory of Latvia at least 4 thousand years (time may vary).
It's known that they came to Vidzeme in 11th century AD (more likely from Courland), but we don't know when Livonians or their ancestors arrived in Courland, and if they are direct descendants of the earliest Latvian Finno-Ugric people or they were closely related.
In the largest time interval everyone came from somewhere.
The connection with the Saami is interesting. We call Saaremaa island "Saami island".

[Komintasavalta]

Livonian has been heavily influenced by Latvian, so it's even harder for Finns to understand than South Estonian, even though in the family tree of extant Finnic languages, the oldest branch is between Inland Finnic (South Estonian) and Coastal Finnic (other Finnic languages).

Here's the Lord's Prayer in different Finnic languages:

Livonian (west):
"Mạd iza, kis sa vuod touvis! pǖvātộd las sig sin nim. Las tugộ sin vạlikštộks, sin mēľ las sugūg kui touvis nei ka mạ pạ'l. Mạd jega pạvvist leibộ ạuda mạdộn tạmpộ. Un jeta mạdộn mạd vǖlgsd, kui ka meig jetām ummo vǖlgaloston. Un ạla ū meidi k'ertāmiz sizộl, aga pạsta meidi jera siest kunēsst. Amen."

Livonian (east):
"Mạd touvộ iza, pụvštộd sọgộ sin nim; sin vọlikšộmi las tulgộ mạd jūrộ; sin tọmi las sugūg mọ pǟlộ nei īš kwi touvộs. Mạd pạvviz touitộg ānda mạdộn tạmpộ. Un lask jara mạdộn mạd sūd nei kui mēg eńtš sǖlistộn nānt sǖd jara laskūm. Un ạla laskộ sima meidi ańtš jūste jara saddộ; pạsta meidi amást ạb jộvast. Amen."

Võro (variety of South Estonian):
"Mi Esä taivan: pühendedüs saaguq sino nimi. Sino riik tulguq. Sino tahtminõ sündkuq, ku taivan, nii ka maa pääl. Mi päävälikku leibä annaq meile täämbä. Nink annaq meile andis mi süüq, nii ku ka mi andis anna umilõ süüdläisile. Ni saatku-i meid joht kiusatusõ sisse, a pästäq meid ärq kur’ast. Aamõn."

Estonian:
"Meie isa, kes Sa oled taevas: pühitsetud olgu Sinu nimi. Sinu riik tulgu. Sinu tahtmine sündigu, nagu taevas, nõnda ka maa peal. Meie igapäevast leiba anna meile tänapäev. Ja anna meile andeks meie võlad, nagu meiegi andeks anname oma võlglastele. Ja ära saada meid kiusatusse, vaid päästa meid ära kurjast. Aamen."

Southwestern Finnish dialect spoken by my generation in my hometown (my translation):
"Meijjän isä, ketä on taivais. Olkoon sun nimes pyhitetty. Tulkoon sun valtakuntas. Tapahtukoon sun tahtos, maan pääl ja taivaas kans. Anna meil tänään meijjän jokapäivänen leipä. Ja anna meil meijjän synnit anteeks, niin kun mekin annetaan anteeks niil ketä on rikkonu meit vastaan. Ja älä saata meit kiusaukseen, mut päästä meijjät pahast. Aamen."

Standard Finnish:
"Isä meidän, joka olet taivaissa Pyhitetty olkoon sinun nimesi. Tulkoon sinun valtakuntasi. Tapahtukoon sinun tahtosi, myös maan päällä niin kuin taivaassa. Anna meille tänä päivänä meidän jokapäiväinen leipämme. Ja anna meille meidän syntimme anteeksi, niin kuin mekin anteeksi annamme niille, jotka ovat meitä vastaan rikkoneet. Äläkä saata meitä kiusaukseen, vaan päästä meidät pahasta. Aamen."

Karelian:
"Tuatto meijän taivahalline! Olgah pühännü Sinun nimi. Tulgah sinun valdu. Roikkah sinun tahto kui taivahas, mugai mual. Anna meile tänäpäi meijän jogapäiväne leibü. Prosti meile meijän vellat, kui myö prostimmo niile, ket ollah meile vellas. Älä vie meidü muanitukseh, a piästä meidü pahas. Amin'!"

Vepsian:
"Meiden taivhaline Tatoi! Olgha pühä sinun nimi. Tulgha sinun valdkund. Tehkaha kaik sinun tahton mödhe, täl mal kut i taivhas. Anda meile tämbei jogapäiväine leib. I pästa meiden velgad, kut mö-ki pästam meiden velgnikoiden velgad. Ala ve meid kodvusehe, no päzuta meid pahaspäi. Amin'!"

The Standard Finnish version is by far the longest. Standard Finnish has few monosyllabic words, and it has a relatively simple syllable structure where there are almost no consonant clusters at the beginning or end of syllables (even though there are some medial consonant clusters).