latvietis

Latvian

Etymology

From latvis (“Latvian”) +‎ -ietis. This term had in principle replaced latvis as the autodenomication of the Latvians already in the 19th century, but the latter was reintroduced via poetry and continues to exist as a poetic term.

Noun

latvietis m (2nd declension, feminine form: latviete)

1. a (male) Latvian, a Lett
2. (genitive plural): Latvian, pertaining to Latvia and its people

   latviešu valoda ― the Latvian language

Usage notes

The word latvis is a synonym of latvietis, but it is less frequently used, and more often than not refers to ancient Latvians, or Latvians as an ethnic group.

Declension

Declension of latvietis (2nd declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	latvietis	latvieši
accusative (akuzatīvs)	latvieti	latviešus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	latvieša	latviešu
dative (datīvs)	latvietim	latviešiem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	latvieti	latviešiem
locative (lokatīvs)	latvietī	latviešos
vocative (vokatīvs)	latvieti	latvieši

Synonyms

• latvis

Related terms

• latviešu valoda, latvju valoda
• latvisks
• Latvija, Latve