From Proto-Baltic *swaynya-, from Proto-Indo-European *swoini, probably meaning “ours,” “one of us”, from *swe-, *swo- with an extra in, from the reflexive pronominal stem *se- (“one's own”) with an extra -we, -wo (whence also Latvian savs). The meaning probably went from “one of us, one of our relatives” to “one who has become a relative (by marriage)” and was then restricted to “brother-in-law.” Cognates include Lithuanian sváinis (“wife's sister's husband”), Old High German swein (“servant, shepherd”) (< “one of us”), Messapic veinam (“one's own (acc.)”).[1]
svainis m (2nd declension, feminine form: svaine or svainiene)
singular (vienskaitlis) | plural (daudzskaitlis) | |
---|---|---|
nominative (nominatīvs) | svainis | svaiņi |
accusative (akuzatīvs) | svaini | svaiņus |
genitive (ģenitīvs) | svaiņa | svaiņu |
dative (datīvs) | svainim | svaiņiem |
instrumental (instrumentālis) | svaini | svaiņiem |
locative (lokatīvs) | svainī | svaiņos |
vocative (vokatīvs) | svaini | svaiņi |
Cognate with Latvian svainis (“brother-in-law”), from Proto-Indo-European *swoy-n(i)o-s, a derivative of *swe- (“self”).[1]
sváinis m (plural sváiniai, feminine sváinė) stress pattern 1[2]
singular (vienaskaita) | plural (daugiskaita) | |
---|---|---|
nominative (vardininkas) | sváinis | sváiniai |
genitive (kilmininkas) | sváinio | sváinių |
dative (naudininkas) | sváiniui | sváiniams |
accusative (galininkas) | sváinį | sváinius |
instrumental (įnagininkas) | sváiniu | sváiniais |
locative (vietininkas) | sváinyje | sváiniuose |
vocative (šauksmininkas) | sváini | sváiniai |