vedekla

See also: vedeklā and vēdekļa

Latvian

Etymology

Derived from vest (“to lead, to take”) +‎ -ekla; the original meaning was thus “one to be led, taken”. The notion “marrying”, or “bride, fiancée, young wife” are often connected to the stem of vest (“to lead, to take”), probably because of the idea of the husband “taking, leading” the wife (away from her father); cf. Lithuanian vèsti (“to marry”), Russian неве́ста (nevésta, “bride, fiancée”) (√ *newo-wed-ta (“the newly taken, the newly married”)), Sanskrit वधू (vadhū́, “bride, young wife”). Note that vedekla is still attested in folk tales with the meaning “bride”. Note also a masculine counterpart in Lithuanian (but not in Latvian): vedẽklis (“young man old enough to marry, eligible, nubile young man”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [vædækla]

Noun

vedekla f (4th declension)

1. daughter-in-law (one's son's wife)

   otrdien, kad viņa nāca mājās, skaidri varēja redzēt, ka viņa bijusi dēla kāzās, jo kur tad viņa citur būtu dabūjusi jauno villaini, ja ne no vedeklas? ― on Tuesday, when she came home, one could easily see that she had been to (her) son's wedding, because where else would she have gotten that woolen shawl, if not from (her) daughter-in-law?

   tagad sāku saprast, ka arī man aug dēls, ka arī es kādreiz kādai meitenei kļūšu par vīramāti... no tā, kāds būs mans dēls pret iemīļoto, veidosies vedeklas un manas attiecības ― now I begin to realize that my son is growing, that someday I, too, will become some girl's mother-in-law... my relationship to my daughter-in-law will depend on what my son will be to (his) beloved

Declension

Declension of vedekla (4th declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	vedekla	vedeklas
accusative (akuzatīvs)	vedeklu	vedeklas
genitive (ģenitīvs)	vedeklas	vedeklu
dative (datīvs)	vedeklai	vedeklām
instrumental (instrumentālis)	vedeklu	vedeklām
locative (lokatīvs)	vedeklā	vedeklās
vocative (vokatīvs)	vedekla	vedeklas