pērn

See also: pern

Latvian

Alternative forms

• (archaic form) pērni

Etymology

An old compound, with as first part Proto-Indo-European *per- (“over”), and the second part a different term in different Indo-European languages (in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit, the second term was probably *ut- < *wet- (“year”), i.e., *per-ut(i)-). In the Baltic case, it is possible that the second element was Proto-Indo-European *sénos: *per-sénos > per-enos > Proto-Baltic *pernas > Latvian *per̃ns > pērns, of which pērn would be the adverbial form (cf. archaic pērni). Another possibility is that the second element was a reflex of Proto-Indo-European *en- (“year”) (cf. Old Church Slavonic лани (lani, “last year”), from Proto-Slavic *ol-ni, from the zero grade of *en-). Cognates include Lithuanian pérnai, Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍃 (fairns, “recent past (thing), past year (thing)”), Old High German firni (“old”), Icelandic forn (“ancient”), Sanskrit परुत् (parút, “last year”), Ancient Greek πέρυσι (pérusi), Irish para- (“past, far; last year”), Persian پار (pâr), Ossetian фарон (faron).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pǣːɾn]

Adverb

pērn

1. last year

   tas notika pērn ― this happened last year

   šis ir pirmā gada mežs! pērn iesējām ― this is a first-year forest! last year we sowed

   mēs iepazināmies vai, pareizāk sakot, sastapāmies pērn, oktobra beigās, lietainas dienas nogalē ― we became acquainted, or, better said, we ran into each other last year, late October, at the end of the rainy days

   viņš dzīvo kā putns zara galā: šogad te, Mežmaļos, pērn Likstās, nezin kur nākošu gadu ― he lived like a bird at the end of a branch: this year here, in Mežmaļi, last year in Likstas, god knows where next year

Derived terms

• aizpērn, aizpērns, aizpērnais, aizpērnējs, aizpērngad
• pērnējs
• pērngad, pērngada
• pērns, pērnais