valgs
Latvian
Alternative forms
- (dialectal terms) velgs, vilgs
Etymology
From Proto-Baltic *walg-, from the o-grade form of Proto-Indo-European *welg- (“humid”), from the stem *wel- (“to press, to squeeze”) with an extra g (a parallel form *welk- with k gave rise to Latvian valkans (“wet and soft”)). The semantic change was probably from “pressed, squeezed (so as to become soft)” > “soft (also from other reasons, e.g. humidity)” > “humid.” Other ablaut forms gave rise to dialectal synonymous forms like velgs and vilgs, as well as the standard term vilgt (“to become moist, humid”).
Cognates include Lithuanian vìlgti (“to become wet”), vìlgyti, Proto-Slavic *volga (“humidity, moisture”) (Old Church Slavonic влага (vlaga), Russian влага (vlaga), Bulgarian влага (vlaga), Belarusian вільгаць (vilʹhacʹ), Ukrainian волога (voloha), Czech vláha), Old High German wëlk (“humid, soft”), German welk (“faded”), Old High German wolkan, German Wolke (“cloud”), Thracian olgan(o) (“humid”).[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [vālks]
Adjective
valgs (valgais comparative, valgāks superlative, visvalgākais adverb, valgi)
- humid, moist, damp, wet (having absorbed or containing moisture or vapor, being covered by some moisture)
- valgas smiltis ― humid sand
- valga zeme ― humid earth
- valgs māls ― wet clay
- valga loga rūts ― humid, wet window pane
- valgas lūpas ― moist lips
- valgi mati ― damp, wet hair
- augsnei, kurā audzē tomātus, jābūt valgai, bet ne slapjai ― the soil where one grows tomatoes must be humid, but not wet
- acis no asarām kļūst valgas ― (his) eyes become moist with tears
- humid, moist (containing more water vapor than usual)
- valga migla ― humid fog
- valgs rietumu vējš ― humid east wind
- valga vēsma ― humid breeze
- gaiss būdā pa nakti kļūst valgs no zemes mitruma ― during the night, the air in the hut becomes humid from the humidity of the soil
Declension
masculine (vīriešu dzimte) | feminine (sieviešu dzimte) | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular (vienskaitlis) |
plural (daudzskaitlis) |
singular (vienskaitlis) |
plural (daudzskaitlis) | ||||||
nominative (nominatīvs) | valgs | valgi | valga | valgas | |||||
accusative (akuzatīvs) | valgu | valgus | valgu | valgas | |||||
genitive (ģenitīvs) | valga | valgu | valgas | valgu | |||||
dative (datīvs) | valgam | valgiem | valgai | valgām | |||||
instrumental (instrumentālis) | valgu | valgiem | valgu | valgām | |||||
locative (lokatīvs) | valgā | valgos | valgā | valgās | |||||
vocative (vokatīvs) | — | — | — | — | |||||
Antonyms
Related terms
- vilgt
References
- Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “valgs”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN