Wordy Wednesday: Reading

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Welcome to the first Wordy Wednesday!

NB: vsk. and dsk. are the abbreviations for vienskaitlis and daudzskaitlis , or singular and plural , respectively. Cases are given in standard Latvian order, as such: kas (nom.), kā (gen.), kam (dat.), ko (acc.), ar ko (inst.), kur (loc.). Vocative is never listed.

Tag., pag., nak., and pav. are the abbreviations for tagadne, pagātne , nākotne, and pavēles izteiksme or present, past, future, and imperative respectively. (Imperative is given in my spelling dictionary, so I am following their lead.) Order is traditional as follows: es, tu, viņš/viņa, mēs, jūs. The 3rd plural is dropped as it is identical to the 3rd singular.

Nouns

  • autors : author (masc.) [slider title="decline me"] autors , m., 1. dekl.
    vsk.: autors, autora, autoram, autoru, ar autoru, autorā
    dsk.: autori, autoru, autoriem, autorus, ar autoriem, autoros[/slider]

  • autore : authoress (fem.) [slider title="decline me"] autore , f., 5. dekl.
    vsk.: autore, autores, autorei, autori, ar autori, autorē
    dsk.: autores, autoru, autorēm, autores, ar autorēm, autorēs[/slider]

Both are obvious svešvārdi or loanwords from Latin, exactly the same as in English. However, as Latvian is very gender-specific, you must use the correct gender when the gender of the person is known. Authoress may be nearly archaic in English, but autore is very much alive and well in Latvian.

  • izdevniecība : publisher [slider title="decline me"] izdevniecība , f., 4. dekl.
    vsk. : izdevniecība, izdevniecības, izdevniecībai, izdevniecību, ar izdevniecību, izdevniecībā
    dsk. : izdevniecības, izdevniecību, izdevniecībām, izdeviecības, ar izdevniecībām, izdeviecībās[/slider]
    We can see where izdevniecība comes from by looking at its base:

Root: dot - to give -> izdot - to publish (lit. to give out) -> past tense: izdeva - published -> izdevniecība - publishing house (a place where things are published)

  • lappuse : page [slider title="decline me"] lappuse , f., 5. dekl.
    vsk.: lappuse, lappuses, lappusei, lappusi, ar lappusi, lappusē
    dsk.: lappuses, lappušu, lappusēm, lappuses, ar lappusēm, lappusēs[/slider]

Interestingly, lapa originated as leaf , which is similar to English's "leafing through a book" and leaflet. Puse means half so we could wind up with a literal translation of half-leaf. Nowadays, lapa also means a sheet of paper , which makes a lappuse much clearer - a page in a book is literally half a sheet!

  • nodaļa : chapter [slider title="decline me"] nodaļa , f., 4. dekl.
    vsk.: nodaļa, nodaļas, nodaļai, nodaļu, ar nodaļu, nodaļā
    dsk.: nodaļas, nodaļu, nodaļām, nodaļas, ar nodaļām, nodaļās[/slider]
    As with English, chapter can be used in organizational uses not just for books.

Verbs

  • lasīt : to read, to gather [slider title="conjugate me"] lasīt , 3. konj. / mixed
    tag. lasu, lasi, lasa, lasām, lasāt
    pag. lasīju, lasīji, lasīja, lasījām, lasījāt
    nak. lasīšu, lasīsi, lasīs, lasīsim, lasīsit / lasīsiet
    pav. lasi, lasiet[/slider]

Reading is "gathering up" words and letters to make stories!