# Latvian: Latvian



## birder

I need to know:

(2) the Latvian word for "Latvian" (the language)

in the basic forms (used stand-alone as headings).

Thank you.


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## Flaminius

The formal word for the Latvian language is _latviešu valoda_.  The shortened _latviešu_ (of Latvians) is often seen in multilingual Web sites.


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## birder

Thank you again.   ;-)


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## karuna

_Latviešu_ alone or without adequate context does not sound right. It is similar to _Eesti_ for Estonian as discussed elsewhere. Also there is another word _latviski_ that can be used alone to indicate Latvian language.


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## birder

Thank you all. Latviski avoids the necessity of special characters.


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