kurpnieks

Latvian

Kurpnieks

Etymology

From kurpe (“shoe”) +‎ -nieks. An old formation, it was the example on the basis of which J. Alunāns suggested using the suffix -nieks more broadly to derive names of craftsmen.

Pronunciation

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Noun

kurpnieks m (1st declension, feminine form: kurpniece)

1. (male) cobbler, shoemaker (craftsman who makes or repairs shoes, boots, sandals and other footwear)

   kurpnieku darbnīca ― cobbler workshop

   kurpnieku meistars, māceklis ― master, apprentice cobbler

   viņa skatījās uz manām kurpēm un teica, ka būšot drīz jau cauras, vajagot pie laika dot kurpniekam ― she looked at my shoes and said that they would soon have holes and (that) it would be necessary to take (lit. give) them to the cobbler's

2. (usually in the plural) a game in which there is a dialogue between the participants and a person in the middle, at the end of which the person in the middle drops a stick and everybody changes places

   iet kurpniekos ― to play this game (lit. to go in the cobblers)

   pa vakariem visi gāja kurpniekos un citās rotaļās ― in the evenings everybody played (lit. went in the) cobblers and other games

Usage notes

The usual term for “cobbler” is kurpnieks; apavnieks is rare or official.

Declension

Declension of kurpnieks (1st declension)

	singular	plural
nominative	kurpnieks	kurpnieki
genitive	kurpnieka	kurpnieku
dative	kurpniekam	kurpniekiem
accusative	kurpnieku	kurpniekus
instrumental	kurpnieku	kurpniekiem
locative	kurpniekā	kurpniekos
vocative	kurpniek	kurpnieki

Synonyms

• apavnieks