cūka

From Proto-Baltic *kyaw-, *kyū-, from a palatalized version (perhaps by onomatopeia, by imitating this animal's sound) of Proto-Indo-European *kew-, *kū- (“to howl, to shout; cf. kaukt “to howl””). A parallel, non-palatalized version is probably reflected in placenames like Kūkas, perhaps originally a region with many wild boars. An even further palatalized version (where *ky > *ḱ > *š > Latvian s) may have given rise to placenames like Sauka, or, with a different suffix, to placenames in -saule like Jaunsaule, perhaps even to Lithuanian Šiauliaĩ. A different (minoritary) theory derives čūka from an earlier *sūka, borrowed from Slavic (cf. Russian су́ка (súka)); another (minoritary) viewpoint connects cūka to imitative words used to call pigs, like Russian чух! (čux!), чух-чух! (čux-čux!), Belarusian, Ukrainian ацю! (acju!), Polish a ciu!, Latvian čuk-čuk!, Lithuanian čiùk-čiùk!, čiū́k-čiū́k! Cognates include Lithuanian dialectal čiūkà, kūkà, also čiūkùtis, kūkùtis (“piglet”), Russian dialectal чу́ха (čúxa), чухна́ (čuxná, “pig”).[1]

• IPA^(key): [tsuːːka]

cūka f (4th declension)

1. pig (esp. Sus scrofa domesticus)

   mājas cūka ― domestic pig

   vaislas cūka ― breeding pig

   meža cūka ― wild boar (lit. forest pig)

   cūka kviec, rukšķ ― the pig is squeaking, squealing

   cūku kūts, aizgalds ― pig pen, pigsty

   cūku šķirnes ― pig breed

   cūku tauki ― lard (lit. pig fat)

   nobarot cūku ― to fatten a pig

   kaut cūku ― to slaughter a pig

   cūkas gaļa, cūkgaļa ― pig meat (= pork)

   cūka viņu sagaidīja sīkiem rukšķiem ― the pig greeted him with small squeals

2. female pig, sow

   cūka ar sivēniem ― the sow with the piglets

3. (figuratively) pig (a dirty, unhygienic person; also, a villainous man; colloquially also an unattractive female)

   viņu nosauca pazīstamu cilvēku klātbūtnē par cūku ― he was called a pig in the presence of people he knew

4. (only plural) the name of a certain card game

   “cūkas” jeb “duraki” ir kāršu spēle, kuras mērķis ir atbrīvoties no rokās esošajām kārtīm ― “pigs,” or “fools,” is a card game whose objective it is to get rid of all the cards in one's hands

• cūkgaļa, cūkas gaļa

• kuilis
• sivēns