žirgts
Latvian
Etymology
From a (no longer extant) verb žirgt (“to liven up, to fresehn up”) (the r follows the pattern of stingt (“to harden, stiffen”), stingrs (“firm, strong, strict”)), from Proto-Baltic *žirgt(e)y, from *žerg-, *žirg-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- (“to shine, to glow”) with an extra -g (without this -g, this stem yielded Lithuanian žìrti (“to sparkle”)). In Latvian, the Proto-Baltic initial ž was conserved, maybe for onomatopoeic expressive reasons; note that the (possibly) related term zirgs (“horse”) has the expected initial z. The meaning changed from “(that which) shines, glows” to “happy, cheerful, joyous” and finally “lively, brisk, alert.”[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ʒīɾkts]
Adjective
žirgts (definite žirgtais, comparative žirgtāks, superlative visžirgtākais, adverb žirgti)
- lively, vivacious, brisk, sprightly, healthy, active, alert (having strength and vitality; being ready for action)
- slimnieks šodien ir itin žirgts ― the patient is quite lively today
- žirgts kumeļš, teļš ― brisk, sprightly colt, calf
- Laimdotas māte vēl bija gluži žirgta, taču ne pārāk steidzīga ― Laimdota's mother was still quite sprightly, but not very hasty
- mazie, žirgtie pīlēni pēkstēdami veikli skraida viņai pakaļ ― the small, vivacious little ducklings deftly ran after her (= their mother)
- lively, vivacious, brisk, sprightly, healthy, active, alert (expressing such qualities; compatible with, predisposing to, such qualities)
- žirgtas acis ― lively, vivacious eyes
- ar žirgtu smaidu ― with a vivacious smile
- no televizora skanēja hokeja komentētāja žirgtā balss ― the hokey commentator's lively voice resounded from the TV set
- sniegs ir drusku piesalis, un žirgtais baltums piedod ielām un parkiem sen neredzētu tīru gaišumu ― the snow had frozen a little, and the vivacious whiteness gave the streets and parks a clean brightness that had not been seen for a long time
Declension
indefinite declension (nenoteiktā galotne) of žirgts
| masculine (vīriešu dzimte) | feminine (sieviešu dzimte) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular (vienskaitlis) | plural (daudzskaitlis) | singular (vienskaitlis) | plural (daudzskaitlis) | ||||||
| nominative (nominatīvs) | žirgts | žirgti | žirgta | žirgtas | |||||
| accusative (akuzatīvs) | žirgtu | žirgtus | žirgtu | žirgtas | |||||
| genitive (ģenitīvs) | žirgta | žirgtu | žirgtas | žirgtu | |||||
| dative (datīvs) | žirgtam | žirgtiem | žirgtai | žirgtām | |||||
| instrumental (instrumentālis) | žirgtu | žirgtiem | žirgtu | žirgtām | |||||
| locative (lokatīvs) | žirgtā | žirgtos | žirgtā | žirgtās | |||||
| vocative (vokatīvs) | — | — | — | — | |||||
Synonyms
- (of "active"): aktīvs, darbīgs, kustīgs, rosīgs
- (of "lively", "alert"): dzīvs, modrs, možs, mundrs, spirgts
Derived terms
- žirgtums
Related terms
- zirgs
References
- Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “žirgts”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN