The Butterfly and the Bee

"The Butterfly and the Bee," is the first selection in Petõr Damberg's book Jemakiel Lugdõbrantõz Skuol ja Kuod pierast (available in the Texts section of this site). I have re-written this story as accurately as possible utilizing the orthography used by linguist Kersti Boiko in her 2000 book Livõ Kel, which includes the most recent changes made to the spelling system. Damberg's orthography, while very similar, does differ in some key respects. Certain letters are not found in the modern orthography, in addition Damberg's spelling system is based on his native Western Livonian dialect, whereas the modern orthography is based on the Eastern Livonian dialect spoken by the majority of speakers today. To read about differences between Damberg's orthography and the modern system, see Sounds of the Livonian Language in the Language section.

This story is intended as an example of modern Livonian in use. The Livonian is followed by my own free English translation and word-by-word analysis of the Livonian.