Dictionary about the origin of Latvian geographical names in Latvian and English published

Vietvardu vaksThe Latvian Language Agency has published a short dictionary about the origin of Latvian geographical names “No Abavas līdz Zilupei. Vietvārdu cilmes īsā vārdnīca = From Abava to Zilupe. The origin of Latvian geographical names. A short dictionary” (Riga : LVA, 2015. 304 pp.).

In this book information has been compiled about the origins of more than a hundred of the best-known Latvian place names by the authors ((Dr. Laimute Balode and Dr. Ojārs Bušs). The dictionary contains information about the origin of the names of all Latvian cities as well as some bigger or better-known villages. From the names given for hills, rivers, lakes and other geographical points only some widely known examples are discussed. Authors have also not forgotten about the name of the country ‘Latvija’ (Latvia), the name of the Baltic Sea ‘Baltijas jūra’ and the names of the five cultural and historical Latvian regions.

The bilingual book contains information in Latvian as well as in English. It can be bought in the Latvian Language Agency.