čakls

Latvian

Alternative forms

(dialectal form) čekls

Etymology

Derived from an obsolete verb tekt (“to rush, to run, to flow”), from Proto-Indo-European *tekʷ- (“to run, to flow”), whence also tecēt (“to flow”); the meaning changed from “moving quickly” to “working hard.” The e → a change parallels tecēt, taka (“path”). The t → č change (palatalization) is not regular in Latvian, which suggests either an expressive or affective feature (compare aiča, meiča, from aita (“sheep”), meita (“girl, daughter”)), or the former existence of parallel forms with a and e: *tekls + *takls → *tʲakls; compare dialectal čekls ([tʃækls]). Note that the same stem also palatalized in Tocharian cake (“river”), Avestan 𐬙𐬀𐬐 (tak, “stream, torrent”); since both the ancient Balts and the Tocharians were in direct contact with Northern Iranian tribes, this palatalization may be the result of Iranian influence. Cognates include Sanskrit तकुः (tákuḥ, “hurried, quick, mobile”), तक्वः (takváḥ, “fast, quick”) (compare तक्ति (takti, “to hurry”), Ossetian тӕх (tæx, “quick stream, torrent; quick, fast, turbulent; dedicated”), Ancient Greek ταχύς (takhús, “swift, quick, agile”).^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [tʃakls]

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Adjective

čakls (definite čaklais, comparative čaklāks, superlative visčaklākais, adverb čakli)

industrious, hard-working, diligent (who works well, who works a lot)
čakls darbinieks ― industrious employee

čakls skolnieks ― hard-working student

čaklākā stradniece ― the most industrious (female) worker

čakls kolektīvs ― hard-working team

čakls kā skudra, kā bite ― industrious as an ant, a bee (i.e., very industrious)

Declension

indefinite declension (nenoteiktā galotne) of čakls

	masculine (vīriešu dzimte)		feminine (sieviešu dzimte)
	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	čakls	čakli	čakla	čaklas
accusative (akuzatīvs)	čaklu	čaklus	čaklu	čaklas
genitive (ģenitīvs)	čakla	čaklu	čaklas	čaklu
dative (datīvs)	čaklam	čakliem	čaklai	čaklām
instrumental (instrumentālis)	čaklu	čakliem	čaklu	čaklām
locative (lokatīvs)	čaklā	čaklos	čaklā	čaklās
vocative (vokatīvs)	—	—	—	—

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

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

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

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