Livonian

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Etymology

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Compare Finnish Väinäjoki, Estonian Väina jõgi.

In Estonian väin (archaic form is väinas) means (sea) strait; In Livonian vēna also means a wide estuary or a port. An Indo-European loan word via Proto-Balto-Slavic. Proto-Slavic *dvina < Proto-Indo-European *dʰweynā (compare Dviná, Russian name for Daugava). Indo-European *dʰew- means "to run, to flow"; *dʰew-e-ti "(it) flows, runs"; compare Sanskrit धावति (dhāvati, run, flow, move). There's speculated connection with Icelandic dvína "to diminish" (i.e. in this connection as "diminishing, dwindling river"), but maybe it just comes from the abovementioned Indo-European root.[1]

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Vēna

  1. River Daugava (the largest river in Latvia)

Declension

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References

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