pilsonis
Latvian
Etymology
A 19th-century neologism, coined by Atis Kronvalds, who claimed to have derived it from pilst (“to be(come) full, complete”) + -onis, following the example of mirt (“to die”), mironis (“corpse”). K. Mīlenbahs criticized it as an incorrect derivation from pils (“castle”) (compare German Bürger (“citizien”), from Burg (“castle, fortress”)). Kronvalds had indeed derived and proposed terms derived from pils for “citizen” (pilietis, pilnietis, which were not successful), but not pilsonis.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [pìlsuonis]
Noun
pilsonis m (2nd declension, feminine form: pilsone)
- (male) citizen (a legal member of a state)
- Latvijas Republikas pilsonis ― citizen of the Latvian Republic
- pilsoņu tiesības ― civil (lit. citizens') rights
- pilsoņu brīvības ― civil (lit. citizens') liberties
- ārvalsts pilsonis ― foreign citizen
- goda pilsonis ― honorary citizen
- pilsoņu karš ― civil (lit. citizens') war
Declension
Declension of pilsonis (2nd declension)
| singular (vienskaitlis) | plural (daudzskaitlis) | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative (nominatīvs) | pilsonis | pilsoņi |
| accusative (akuzatīvs) | pilsoni | pilsoņus |
| genitive (ģenitīvs) | pilsoņa | pilsoņu |
| dative (datīvs) | pilsonim | pilsoņiem |
| instrumental (instrumentālis) | pilsoni | pilsoņiem |
| locative (lokatīvs) | pilsonī | pilsoņos |
| vocative (vokatīvs) | pilsoni | pilsoņi |
Derived terms
- pilsonība
- pilsonisks
References
- Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “pilsonis”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN