kamanas

See also: kamanās

Latvian

Kamanas

Etymology

A vowel assimilation assimilation (e to a) variant of an old en-stem word — with an extra final -e — kamene “spruce or oak bark,” figuratively also “sleigh” (in the plural kamenes, apparently because in ancient times heavy loads were transported over peeled-off tree bark as if over runners), from Proto-Baltic *kam-, from the ablauted form *kom- of Proto-Indo-European *kem- “to squeeze, to compress,” therefore also “bent, round” (whence Latvian dialectal čems, kams). Cognates include Lithuanian kamíenas, kamė́nas (“tree trunk”), kãmanos (“bridle”), Czech kmen (“stem, trunk”), Polish kien (“stump, bar, log”), Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (himins, “sky, firmament”), Old Norse himenn, German Himmel, Dutch hemel, Tajik dialectal kamali (“sleigh runners”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

kamanas f (4th declension)

1. (only plural) sleigh (vehicle on runners pulled by animals over snow or ice)

   jūgt kamanās ― to harness (a horse) to (lit. in) a sleigh

   braukt ar kamanām ― to go by, on (a) sleigh

   braukt kamanās ― to ride a sleigh

   briežu kamanas ― (rein)deer sleigh

   suņu kamanas ― dog sled

   kamanu sega ― sleigh blanket

   zem kamanu sliecēm gurkstēja sniegs ― the snow crunched under the sleigh runners

   vedējs un milicis Kaņeps izlēca no kamanām ― the driver and police agent Kaņeps jumped out of the sleigh

Usage notes

The original singular form kamana is attested only in folk songs.

Declension

Declension of kamanas (4th declension)

	singular	plural
nominative	—	kamanas
genitive	—	kamanu
dative	—	kamanām
accusative	—	kamanas
instrumental	—	kamanām
locative	—	kamanās
vocative	—	kamanas

Derived terms

• kamaniņas

See also

• ragavas, ragaviņas