„Vieglā valoda. Rokasgrāmata” – pirmais vieglajai valodai veltītais izdevums latviešu valodā

In February 2022, the University of Latvia Press published the electronic book
“Easy-to-Read Language: a Handbook” as part of the ERASMUS+ cooperation
project “Promoting Easy-to-Read Language for Social Inclusion” (abbreviated to
PERLSI). It was one of the project results.
The necessity for this publication was determined by the fact that, like in many
other countries, the number of people who are unable to comprehend longer sentences and more complex texts has increased in Latvia. The people affected by this can be both children with special needs and adults with impaired cognitive skills due to trauma or illness. In addition, the target audience also includes people who have just started to learn Latvian, for example, immigrants and children. The book is intended for a wide range of users: language experts (interpreters and translators using easy-to-read language), teaching staff, including special needs teachers, journalists who create news reports in easy-to-read language, public relations professionals, and social workers. The handbook, which contains eight chapters, was written by a group of authors.
The paper provides a general overview of the handbook; however, particular
attention is paid to the chapter dedicated to language, which contains advice on how to adjust and adapt a text in easy-to-read language: specific recommendations concerning word formation, morphology, usage of lexis, and syntax. The chapter draws on the compiled advice from experts in the field and the experience of Latvian Radio journalists.
Official business style is the most widespread in easy-to-read language, as it
corresponds to its core principle: the information must be presented in a way that is easily understandable without using complex sentence constructions. The paper summarises the advice in four subsections, covering word formation, lexis, grammar (morphology and syntax), and text creation.
In word formation, unnecessary prefixes, verbal nouns, abstract nouns, abbreviations, and short forms should be avoided; the same principle applies to long words and compounds. Regarding the morphological (grammatical) level, active verbs and active voice must be used; particular attention must be paid to the precise usage of personal pronouns. In terms of lexis, well-known words (including common and wellknown foreign words) should be used, while synonyms, as well as expressive and figurative language, must be avoided. The sentences must be simple and easy to understand, and longer sentences must be split into smaller units.