garša

See also: garsa, gārša, and garšā

Latvian edit

Etymology edit

From an old verb *gart (“to heat, to grow hot”) ( > “to steam”; cf. garot (“to steam”)), from the same stem as gars (“spirit; vapor, steam”) and gards (“delicious”) (q.v.), with an extra suffix -tya: *gar-tya- > garša.

The original meaning was probably “steaming, steam,” from which “sharp, pungent smell, (smoke) stink” (a meaning still attested in the 1870's) > “sharp, hot taste” > “taste (in general).” Only by the end of the 19th century was this word's meaning restricted to “taste” alone. (A minority opinion suggests that garša is actually derived from gards (“delicious”), with an unexpected š instead of the regular ž (< *d) because of the influence of the variant smarša of smarža (“smell, odor”).)^[1]

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): [ɡâɾʃa]

(file)

Noun edit

garša f (4th declension)

(sense) taste (the capacity to perceive flavors)
garšas nervi ― taste, gustatory nerves

par abinieku ožu, tāpat kā par to garšu, nav vēl īstas skaidrības ― about the (senses of) smell and taste of amphibians, there is no real explanation (i.e., little is known) yet
taste, flavor (the sensation created by certain substances in the mouth: salty, bitter, sweet, acid)
salda, rūgta garša ― sweet, bitter taste

patīkama garša ― pleasant taste

maizes, medus garša ― bread, honey taste

sajust nelabu garšu mutē ― to feel a bad taste in the mouth

ēst ar garšu ― to eat with pleasure (lit. with taste)

viela bez smakas un bez garšas ― a substance without smell and without taste

pēc sēklas garšas atšķir saldās un rūgtās mandeles ― by the taste of the seeds one distinguishes the sweet from the bitter almonds

jaunas garšas meklējot ― on the quest for new flavors
(dated, nowadays mostly gaume, q.v.) taste (aesthetic and cultural discernment, the sense of what is aesthetically or culturally better)
viņš bija cilvēks pēc Hildegardis kundzes garšas ― he was a person by (= who pleased) Mrs Hildegards' taste

Declension edit

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Declension of garša (4th declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	garša	garšas
accusative (akuzatīvs)	garšu	garšas
genitive (ģenitīvs)	garšas	garšu
dative (datīvs)	garšai	garšām
instrumental (instrumentālis)	garšu	garšām
locative (lokatīvs)	garšā	garšās
vocative (vokatīvs)	garša	garšas

Synonyms edit

garšošana
(of "aesthetic and cultural discernment"): gaume

Related terms edit

References edit

^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “garša”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN

[1] Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “garša”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN

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