Latvian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-Indo-European *bel-, *pel-, *bla-, *pla-, an onomatopoeic stem that imitates human speech. Apparently, this stem was reduplicated in pļāpāt and underwent expressive palatalization (pl > ). Cognates include Lithuanian plõpti, pliõpti, pliopóti, German plappern.[1]

Pronunciation

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Verb

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pļāpāt (transitive or intransitive, 2nd conjugation, present pļāpāju, pļāpā, pļāpā, past pļāpāju)

  1. to chat, to chatter, to babble, to gossip (to talk about minor, unimportant topics)
    veci cilvēki daudz pļāpāold people often chatter
    bet man gribas tikai niekus pļāpātbut I feel like just chatting about unimportant things
    ārsts nemēdza pļāpāt par delikatām lietāmthe doctor tends not to chatter, gossip about sensitive issues

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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prefixed verbs:
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References

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