purvs
Latvian
Alternative forms
Etymology
The origin of this word is unclear. Some compare it to Lower Sorbian para (“filth, dung”), Polabian poro (“filth, dung; swamp, bog”) (assuming that o < *uo < *ō), from a stem *pōr- to which an extra v or vo was added. Others relate purvs to Ancient Greek πυρρός (purrhós, “red, pink, brownish red”), Sanskrit पुरीषम् (púrīṣam, “filth, dung”), परुष (paruṣa, “spotted, speckled”), pointing out that it often happens in Indo-European languages that "swamp" and "red" are related terms (e.g., from Proto-Slavic *ruda (“red”), Polish ruda (“ore, peat, swamp”), Ukrainian руда́ (rudá, “ore, swamp”)), probably because of the reddish-brown color of swamp waters. Cognates include Lithuanian pur̃vas (“filth, dirt”), Sudovian puro (“swamp”).
Pronunciation
Noun
purvs m (1st declension)
- swamp, bog, marsh, morass (low wetland with a layer of accumulated peat)
- kūdras, sūnu purvs ― peat, moss bog
- staigns purvs ― miry bog
- nosusināt purvu ― to drain the swamp
- purva augsne ― swampy soil
- purva dūņas ― bog mud, sludge
- purva kūdra ― swamp, marsh peat
- purva arkls ― swamp plow
- purva gáze ― swamp gas (= methane)
- purva drudzis ― swamp fever (= malaria)
- purva bērzs ― bog birch
- purva varde ― marsh frog
- brist pa purvu ― to wade through the swamp, bog
- lasīt purvā dzērvenes ― to gather cranberries in the swamp
- naktī pār purvu skrēja purva sloka... atvērtu knābi tā šāvās no vienas malas uz otru, rijot knišļus ― at night the swamp woodcock runs all over the swamp... it swings its open beak from side to side, swallowing small flies
- (figuratively) swamp (hard, difficult circumstances)
- nogrimt purvā ― to sink in the swamp (= to be in difficult circumstances)
- elpu! elpu!... man šinī purvā jānosmok!.. ak, kaut es spētu nokratīt šo dzīvi ― air! air!... I have to stifle in this swamp!... oh, if only I could shake off this life
Declension
Synonyms
Derived terms
References
- ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “purvs”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN