arājs
Latvian
Arājs
Etymology
Apparently a mixture of arējs (“(temporary) plowman”) and an unattested form *artājs, from art (“to plow”) + -ājs. Cognates include Proto-Slavic *ortajь (archaic Russian ратай (rataj), Old Church Slavonic ра́тай (rátaj)).[1]
Noun
arājs m (1st declension)
- plowman (person who plows the land (with a horse-drawn plow)
- arājs stingri turēja arklu ― the plowman firmly held the plow
- arājs nāca tīrumā art ― the plowman came to the field to plow
- arājs ara un gani ganīja ― the plowman plows and the shepherds tend (the sheep)
Usage notes
The difference between arājs and arējs seems to be that arājs describes a profession, a permanent way of life, whereas arējs refers to someone (or some animal) who happens to be plowing now.
Declension
Declension of arājs (1st declension)
| singular (vienskaitlis) | plural (daudzskaitlis) | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative (nominatīvs) | arājs | arāji |
| accusative (akuzatīvs) | arāju | arājus |
| genitive (ģenitīvs) | arāja | arāju |
| dative (datīvs) | arājam | arājiem |
| instrumental (instrumentālis) | arāju | arājiem |
| locative (lokatīvs) | arājā | arājos |
| vocative (vokatīvs) | arāj | arāji |
Synonyms
- arējs
Related terms
- arkls
- art, arums
References
- Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “art”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN