Latvian

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Etymology

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From Indija (India) +‎ eiropeisks (European) (indo- is a nationality prefix corresponding to India), following the pattern of other similar formations in other European languages (cf. German indoeuropäisch, Russian индоевропе́йский (indojevropéjskij), all tracing back to Sir Thomas Young's original English 1813 coinage Indo-European).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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indoeiropeisks (definite indoeiropeiskais, comparative indoeiropeiskāks, superlative visindoeiropeiskākais, adverb indoeiropeiski)

  1. Indo-European (relating to the presumed Indo-European people, to their presumed language, Proto-Indo-European, or their culture; relating to the present-day languages, peoples and cultures derived from the ancient Proto-Indo-Europeans)
    indoeiropeiskais kalendārsIndo-European calendar
    indoeiropeiskas izcelsmes dievigods of Indo-European origin
    indoeiropeiskas cilmes vārdsa word of (= from) an Indo-European stem
    viņu valodai nav indoeiropeiskas nokrāsastheir language does not have an Indo-European flavor (lit. shade)

Usage notes

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English “Indo-European” as an attributive adjective usually corresponds in Latvian to indoeiropiešu, the genitive plural form of indoeiropietis. The adjective indoeiropeisks is commonly used as a predicate (“this is Indo-European”), or in its adverbial form indoeiropeiski.

Declension

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