valis
See also: Appendix:Variations of "valis"
English
Friulian
Latvian
Etymology
Borrowed from German Walfisch, a Germanic compound where Wal- is from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz (“whale”). The word was first borrowed (as valzivs, a compound of val- with zivs (“fish”) on the model of Wal-fisch, in the early 19th century; before that, only expressions like liela zivs “big fish” or jūras zvērs “sea beast” had been used. The form valis appeared in the early 20th century, and succeeded in replacing valzivs completely only in the 1950s.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [valis]
Noun
valis m (2nd declension)
- whale (large maritime mammals of the order Cetacea)
- dienvidu valis ― southern whale
- zilais valis ― blue whale
- vaļu medības ― whaling (lit. whale hunting)
- vaļu medību kuģis ― whaler (lit. whale hunting ship)
- lielākie mūsdienu zīdītāji, vaļi (dažu sugu īpatni pat 30 m gari) ir pastāvīgi ūdens iemītnieki ― the largest modern mammals, whales (specimens of some species are up to 30m long) are permanent water inhabitants
Declension
Declension of valis (2nd declension)
References
- Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “valis”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN
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