māja
Latvian edit
Etymology edit
Traditionally considered a borrowing from Proto-Finnic *maa (“land, earth”) (compare Estonian maa, Finnish maa, Veps ma, Livonian mō); the meaning evolved from “earth, land” → “earth, fields close to a village, to (farm) houses” → “(farm) house.” This word was also re-borrowed into Proto-Finnic as *maja (compare Estonian maja (“house”), Finnish maja (“hut”), Livonian mōi (“home”)).
More recently, it has been suggested that Proto-Finnic *maa ultimately derives from Indo-European, cf. Sanskrit मही (mahī), Old Irish mag (“plains, field”) (from Proto-Indo-European *meǵ(ʰ)-, *mag(ʰ)-, whence also Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “big”)). In this case, Latvian māja might not be a borrowing, but a retention from Proto-Indo-European.[1] (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
māja f (4th declension)
- house, dwelling
- dzīvojamā māja ― residential house
- stūra māja ― corner house
- ģimenes māja ― family house
- kalpu māja ― servants' house, farm workers' house
- vienstāva, daudzstāvu māja ― one-storey, multi-storey house
- (chiefly in the plural) farmhouse, farmstead, farm and its buildings
- lauku mājas ― farmhouse, farmstead
- iepirkt mājas ― to buy a farm
- dzīt govis mājās ― to drive the cows to the farm
- (chiefly in the plural) house, home
- braukt, iet uz mājām ― to drive, to go home
- uzkopt māju ― to tidy up the house
- mājas māte, mājasmāte ― the lady (lit. mother) of the house
- otrās mājas ― a second home
- sēdēt mājās ― to sit home
- justies kā mājās ― to feel at home
Declension edit
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
References edit
- ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “māja”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN