varavīksne

varavīksne

See also: varavīksnē

Latvian

Varavīksne

Alternative forms

• (dialectal forms) varvīksne, varavīksna, varvīksna, varvīkste, vararīkste

Etymology

The various attested forms result from reduplication: varavīksne < *vavarīksne, vararīste < *vavarīste, where vavar- is a reduplicated form of Proto-Baltic *war-, from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, to bend”) (whence also Latvian vērpt “to spin”, q.v.). The original meaning was probably “bending,” “arch.” The second part of the word was apparently not just a suffix, but an independent word, perhaps related to rīkste (“switch, twig, flexible rod”); note that rīksna is dialectally attested by itself with the meaning of “rainbow.” The rich dialectal variation in this word, as well as the several other dialectal terms for “rainbow” (e.g., dardedze, telverdze), probably result, on the one hand, from dialectal mixing, and, on the other hand, from taboo restrictions (ancient Latvians apparently considered the rainbow the result of magical forces that deserved respect). Cognates include Lithuanian vaivórykštė, dialectal varvórykštė.[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [vaɾavîːksnɛ]

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Noun

varavīksne f (5th declension)

1. rainbow (multicolored arch in the sky)

   varavīksne parādās kā septiņkrāsu loks Saulei pretējā pusē ― a rainbow appears as a seven-color arch on the opposite side to the sun

   debesīs patiešām bija uzplaukusi varavīksne ― in the sky, a rainbow had really blossomed

   zaigot visās varavīksnes krāsās ― to sparkle in all the colors of the rainbow

   varavīksnes forele ― rainbow trout (a species of trout)

Declension

Declension of varavīksne (5th declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	varavīksne	varavīksnes
accusative (akuzatīvs)	varavīksni	varavīksnes
genitive (ģenitīvs)	varavīksnes	varavīkšņu
dative (datīvs)	varavīksnei	varavīksnēm
instrumental (instrumentālis)	varavīksni	varavīksnēm
locative (lokatīvs)	varavīksnē	varavīksnēs
vocative (vokatīvs)	varavīksne	varavīksnes

Derived terms

• varavīksnene

See also

• dardedze f

References

1. Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “varavīksne”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN