Latvian language
The Middle dialect is spoken in central and Southwestern Latvia. Kursenieki language, which used to be spoken along Curonian Spit, is closely related to the varieties of middle dialect spoken in Courland. The dialect is divided into the Vidzeme variety, the Curonian variety and the Semigallian variety. The Vidzeme variety and the Semigallian variety are closer to each other than to the Curonian variety, which is more archaic than the other two. There are three intonations in the Middle dialect. In the Semigallian variety, "ŗ" is still used. Standard Latvian is based on the middle dialect.
Ludza Estonians
By the 19th century the church had become Latvianised and Russian had become the official language and lingua franca. According to Oskar Kallas, who made a studying trip to area in 1893, there were 4,387 Ludza Estonians of whom some 800 could speak Estonian. In the 1970s and 80s, there were some 20 people left in the area still using the language, but it is now most likely to have perished. The dialect spoken by Ludza Estonians, was closely related to eastern Võro-dialects. It contained about 180 loanwords from Latvian language and some from Russian. Ludza Estonians reportedly had some difficulty understanding standard Estonian.