Latvian Voice Over Agency

Working with translation and production companies

Adding audio visual services to your mix will create many new sales opportunities for your team.

Matinée has over 40 years of experience working alongside translation and production companies. So you can be sure our project managers are fully at home with the technical process of supervising and delivering localised material, in a professional and timely manner. We can add translation, voiceover and subtitling to your company’s offering, which will appear seamless to your clients and yet mesh easily with the processes in your own departments.

If you are a translation company, we will send you some helpful guidelines when providing us with copy or scripts, and we can either work from your translations or handle the whole project for you, including translation. If you are a production company, we will provide translations or subtitles in your preferred format; whether that’s subtitle-ready files (XML or PNG), or burnt in as fully-subtitled videos. Voiceover recordings can be supplied as edited files, or we can remix with the original music and effects and provide a finished video, ready to go.

Working seamlessly with your team, we can take on all or part of the process, according to your needs, and help widen your service offering.

A short history on the Latvian language

Latvian (sometimes called Lettish), along with Lithuanian, belongs to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. They are the only two remaining living Baltic languages with official status, and are closely related (although not mutually intelligible).

Latvian and Lithuanian are of particular interest to linguists, as they have retained many archaic features of the Proto-Indo-European language. For a long period Latvian and Lithuanian were different dialects of the same language. They began to separate in the 9th century, but the transition lasted for several centuries. It wasn’t until the 16th century that Latvian emerged as a distinct language; the oldest written example is the translation of a hymn from 1530.

As it evolved, Latvian assimilated other Baltic languages, including Curonian, Semigallion and Selonian. Up until the 19th century it was heavily influenced by German, as the country’s elite were Baltic Germans. The first grammar appeared in the 18th century, and the literary language was well developed by the end of the 19th century. Since Latvia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1992, the language has been a focus of national identity.

Which countries have Latvian as a national language?

Latvian is the official language of the Republic of Latvia. Since Latvia joined the European Union in 2004, Latvian has become one of the EU’s official languages.

How many people speak Latvian as their first language?

It is estimated that approximately two million people speak Latvian – around 80% of the population of Latvia. Of those, 1.2 million people speak it as their first language.

Did you know…

• There are three Latvian dialect groups – Livonian, High Latvian and Middle Latvian. The standard version of the language is based on Middle Latvian. The Livonian dialect should not be mistaken for the Livonian language, which is a separate (and highly endangered) minority language spoken in Latvia.
• The Latvian alphabet uses 22 letters of the Latin alphabet (omitting q, w, x and y), and includes 11 more letters by modification (using macrons, carons and cedillas).
• An interesting feature of both Latvian and Lithuanian is that proper names from other countries are altered phonetically to fit in with their own phonological system – even if the original language also uses the Latin alphabet.

The Latvian economy

Like other former Soviet republics, Latvia was quick to embrace a free market economy after gaining independence.

Latvia has a highly developed transit infrastructure, due to its geographical location, and exports contribute nearly a third of the country’s GDP. Challenges include corruption and a decreasing population.

Latvia joined the World Trade Organisation in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.