kurpnieks
Latvian
Kurpnieks
Etymology
From kurpe (“shoe”) + -nieks. An old formation, it was the example on the basis of which J. Alunāns suggested using the suffix -nieks more broadly to derive names of craftsmen.[1]
Pronunciation
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Noun
kurpnieks m (1st declension, feminine form: kurpniece)
- (male) cobbler, shoemaker (craftsman who makes or repairs shoes, boots, sandals and other footwear)
- kurpnieku darbnīca ― cobbler workshop
- kurpnieku meistars, māceklis ― master, apprentice cobbler
- viņa skatījās uz manām kurpēm un teica, ka būšot drīz jau cauras, vajagot pie laika dot kurpniekam ― she looked at my shoes and said that they would soon have holes and (that) it would be necessary to take (lit. give) them to the cobbler's
- (usually in the plural) a game in which there is a dialogue between the participants and a person in the middle, at the end of which the person in the middle drops a stick and everybody changes places
- iet kurpniekos ― to play this game (lit. to go in the cobblers)
- pa vakariem visi gāja kurpniekos un citās rotaļās ― in the evenings everybody played (lit. went in the) cobblers and other games
Usage notes
The usual term for “cobbler” is kurpnieks; apavnieks is rare or official.
Declension
Declension of kurpnieks (1st declension)
| singular (vienskaitlis) | plural (daudzskaitlis) | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative (nominatīvs) | kurpnieks | kurpnieki |
| accusative (akuzatīvs) | kurpnieku | kurpniekus |
| genitive (ģenitīvs) | kurpnieka | kurpnieku |
| dative (datīvs) | kurpniekam | kurpniekiem |
| instrumental (instrumentālis) | kurpnieku | kurpniekiem |
| locative (lokatīvs) | kurpniekā | kurpniekos |
| vocative (vokatīvs) | kurpniek | kurpnieki |
Synonyms
- apavnieks
References
- Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “kurpe”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN