lasis
lasis
Traditionally related to Latvian lāse (“drop (of liquid)”) (dialectally attested as lase, lasis), perhaps because of the drop-like little spots on a salmon's scales, from Proto-Indo-European *laḱ- (“to sprinkle, to spatter”).
Another suggestion is that this term comes from Proto-Indo-European *lek- (“to jump, to leap”), referring to the mating habits of salmons, swimming and leaping upstream; but the final k leaves the s in the Baltic and Slavic forms unexplained. One would have to assume parallel forms *lek-, *leḱ- for this stem.
Cognates include Lithuanian lãšis, lašiša, Old Prussian lalasso (probably a misspelled lasasso), Russian лосо́сь (losósʹ), Czech losos, Polish łosoś, Proto-Germanic *lahsaz (Old High German lahs, German Lachs, Swedish lax, English lax, lox), Tocharian B laksi (“fish”), Ossetian лӕсӕг (læsæg, “salmon”).[1]
lasis m (2nd declension)
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | lasis | laši |
genitive | laša | lašu |
dative | lasim | lašiem |
accusative | lasi | lašus |
instrumental | lasi | lašiem |
locative | lasī | lašos |
vocative | lasi | laši |