I love the way Latvian creates the word for pet. Since my little furballs are an important part of my life, today’s Wordy Wednesday is all about our furry, four-footed friends.
- dzīvot : to live conjugate me»
The root seen here in dzīvot is commonly used in word-building. It’s used in several compounds, including dzīvnieks below and dzīvoklis (an apartment or flat).
- dzīvnieks : animal decline me»
Literally a “living thing”, this refers to any type of living animal, including insects.
- mājdzīvnieks : pet, housepet decline me»
This compound is created from māja + dvīvnieks = a house animal = housepet = pet. I just think this is such a neat way to refer to a pet.
- kaķis : male (or unknown) cat decline me»
kaķene : female cat decline me»
Gender differences matter, even with pets. Unlike with English, where it can be impossible to tell if little Midnight is a boy or girl, Latvian always makes gender differences clear in names. Therefore, if you know that Grācija is the name of my cat, you’d then need to refer to her as my kaķene instead of my kaķis. If you don’t know, however, a cat of any sort is a kaķis.
- runcis : tomcat decline me»
As with our word for tomcat, a runcis can refer to a male cat or a big bruiser of a cat. Puss in Boots is called Runcis Zābakos, for example.
- suns : dog decline me»
This is one of the 2nd declension exception nouns. According to my references, the 2nd singular genitive should be suns. According to my husband, the 2nd singular genitive should be suņa. Personally, I think that I will go with how he says it because I’d rather speak how a native does than perfectly by the book. Go with what you prefer. - kuce : female dog, bitch decline me»
As with cats, so with dogs. Also, when kuce is applied to people, it means exactly the same thing as it does in English.
dzīvot, 2. konj. (long)
tag. dzīvoju, dzīvo, dzīvo, dzīvojam, dzīvojat
pag. dzīvoju, dzīvoji, dzīvoja, dzīvojām, dzīvojāt
nak. dzīvošu, dzīvosi, dzīvos, dzīvosim, dzīvosit / dzīvosiet
pav. dzīvo, dzīvojiet Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5
dzīvnieks, m, 1. dekl.
vsk.: dzīvnieks, dzīvnieka, dzīvniekam, dzīvnieku, ar dzīvnieku, dzīvniekā
dsk.: dzīvnieki, dzīvnieku, dzīvniekiem, dzīvniekus, ar dzīvniekiem, dzīvniekosPowered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5
mājdzīvnieks, m, 1. dekl.
vsk.: mājdzīvnieks, mājdzīvnieka, mājdzīniekam, mājdzīvnieku, ar mājdzīvnieku, mājdzīvniekā
dsk.: mājdzīvnieki, mājdzīvnieku, mājdzīvniekiem, mājdzīvniekus, ar mājdzīvniekiem, mājdzīvniekosPowered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5
kaķis, m, 2. dekl.
vsk.: kaķis, kaķa, kaķim, kaķi, ar kaķi, kaķī
dsk.: kaķi, kaķu, kaķiem, kaķus, ar kaķiem, kaķos Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5
kaķene, f, 5. dekl.
vsk.: kaķene, kaķenes, kaķenei, kaķeni, ar kaķeni, kaķenē
dsk.: kaķenes, kaķeņu, kaķenēm, kaķenes, ar kaķenēm, kaķenēsPowered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5
runcis, m., 2. dekl.
vsk.: runcis, runča, runcim, runci, ar runci, runcī
dsk.: runči, runču, runčiem, runčus, ar runčiem, runčosPowered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5
suns, m, 2. dekl. exc.
vsk.: suns, suns/suņa, sunim, suni, ar suni, sunī
dsk.: suņi, suņu, suņiem, suņus, ar suņiem, suņosPowered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5
kuce, f, 5. dekl.
vsk.: kuce, kuces, kucei, kuci, ar kuci, kucē
dsk.: kuces, kuču, kucēm, kuces, ar kucēm, kucēsPowered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5
Thanks again for continuing to feed us really interesting information on Latvian! Especially stuff that transcends grammar.
But on the topic of grammar, would it be possible for you to do a Reflexive verbs post? While I have their conjugational paradigms, their use really confuses me. Such as how to use them with the accusative ie. “I learn a language” with Maaciities and other uses of reflexive verbs. I have Teach Yourself Latvian, but its coverage of reflexive verbs isn’t very deep.
Paldies!
I’m glad you’re enjoying it! :)
Sure, I can do a post on reflexives. Look for it later this week or first part of next.
Also: I am learning a language. –> Es mācos valodu. (Es is optional as usual.)
Because of the lack of an article, this is an incomplete sentence in Latvian. It doesn’t work without saying what kind of language is being learned. A better sentence would be: Es mācos latviešu valodu.