cirslis
Latvian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Derived from cirst (“to cut, to hew, to chop”), from Proto-Baltic *kir-, from Proto-Indo-European *ker-, *kr̥- (“to cut”). The semantic evolution was probably “to cut” > “to chop”, also “to gnaw, to bite, to pierce”, whence cirslis “gnawer”. Cognates include Lithuanian kar̃stas, kertùkas, kirstukas, Ukrainian черте́ц (čertéc).[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [tsìɾslis]
Audio: (file)
Noun
cirslis m (2nd declension)
- shrew (mammal sp.)
- ūdens cirslis ― water shrew
- mazais cirslis ― small shrew
- ciršļa ala ― shrew burrow
Declension
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | cirslis | ciršļi |
| genitive | ciršļa | ciršļu |
| dative | cirslim | ciršļiem |
| accusative | cirsli | ciršļus |
| instrumental | cirsli | ciršļiem |
| locative | cirslī | ciršļos |
| vocative | cirsli | ciršļi |
References
- ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “cirslis”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca [Latvian Etymological Dictionary][1] (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN