nabags
Latvian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Old East Slavic небогъ (nebogŭ, “poor”) or from Belarusian небог (njebóh), небога (njebóha) (cf. Old Church Slavonic небогъ (nebogŭ)); Lithuanian nabãgas is likewise a borrowing from Slavic. Like its opposite bagāts (“rich”) (q.v.), its basic stem is the same as Old Church Slavonic богъ (bogŭ, “happiness; abundance, riches; god”), so the original meaning in Slavic was probably “(one) whom god gave nothing.” The word was borrowed into Latvian before the 13th century and used from the beginning both as a noun and as an adjective.[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Noun
[edit]nabags m (1st declension, feminine form: nabadze)
- poor man, pauper (man, or in general a person, who cannot provide for himself and lives from the charity of others)
- pilsēta, pagasta nabagi ― city, parish poor
- akls, klibs, vecs nabags ― blind, lame, old poor man
- kļūt par nabagu ― to become a poor man
- nabaga dāvana ― alms (lit. donation to the poor)
- kad nabags redz cita cilvēka bagātību, viņš jūtas vēl nabagāks ― when a poor man sees another person's riches, he feels even poorer
- (often in the genitive, used as an adjective) poor man (man, or in general a person, who deserves pity; in this sense, the diminutive form nabadziņš is more frequently used)
- nabaga bērns, meitene ― poor child, girl
- nabaga sunītis salst ārā ― the poor dog is freezing outside
- skolotāji mani plucināja aiz ausīm, bet tēvs, nabags, pacietību zaudējis, kaustīja ar striķa galu ― the teachers pulled my ears, but (my) father, poor him, having lost his patience, hit me with a piece of rope
Declension
[edit]Declension of nabags (1st declension)
| singular (vienskaitlis) | plural (daudzskaitlis) | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative (nominatīvs) | nabags | nabagi |
| accusative (akuzatīvs) | nabagu | nabagus |
| genitive (ģenitīvs) | nabaga | nabagu |
| dative (datīvs) | nabagam | nabagiem |
| instrumental (instrumentālis) | nabagu | nabagiem |
| locative (lokatīvs) | nabagā | nabagos |
| vocative (vokatīvs) | nabag | nabagi |
Adjective
[edit]nabags (definite nabagais, comparative nabagāks, superlative visnabagākais, adverb nabagi)
- poor (who lacks possessions, the means of surviving)
- nabagais kaimiņš ― the poor neighbor
- viņš ir ļoti nabags ― he is very poor
- pasaulē nav neviens tik nabags, ka tas navarētu tomēr vēl kādam palīdzēt ― in the world there is nobody so poor that he can't really help someone else
- kad nabags redz cita cilvēka bagātību, viņš jūtas vēl nabagāks ― when a poor man sees another person's riches, he feels even poorer
- poor (having, containing little or none of something, especially something important, valuable or useful)
- zivīm nabaga upe ― a river poor in fish
- ar kokiem nabaga zeme ― land poor in trees
- upe sekla, vasarā ūdeņiem nabaga ― the river is shallow, in the summer (it is) poor in water
- visnabagākā ar palmām ir Eiropa: te aug tikai viena palma, pundurpalma ― the poorest (continent) in palm trees is Europe: here, only one palm tree grows, the palmetto tree
- poor (not sufficiently varied and diverse, in form, nuances, parts; one-sided, limited)
- cik dzīve nabaga! cik maz tai laba! un, ak, cik maz ir skaista!... ― how poor life is! how little good it has! and, ah! how little beauty it (has, is)!...
- jo augstāk mēs tikām, jo ainava kļuva nabagāka ― the higher up we got (= climbed), the poorer the landscape became
- faktiem un pierādījumiem nabags viņa ievadraksts ― his editorial (was) poor in facts and evidence
- (of the mind, the psyche, the spirit) poor, shallow, not sensitive
- Jorena psiholoģiska līnija ir inerta, dvēseliski nabaga ― Jorens' psychological line is inert, spiritually poor
Declension
[edit]indefinite declension (nenoteiktā galotne) of nabags
| masculine (vīriešu dzimte) | feminine (sieviešu dzimte) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular (vienskaitlis) |
plural (daudzskaitlis) |
singular (vienskaitlis) |
plural (daudzskaitlis) | ||||||
| nominative (nominatīvs) | nabags | nabagi | nabaga | nabagas | |||||
| accusative (akuzatīvs) | nabagu | nabagus | nabagu | nabagas | |||||
| genitive (ģenitīvs) | nabaga | nabagu | nabagas | nabagu | |||||
| dative (datīvs) | nabagam | nabagiem | nabagai | nabagām | |||||
| instrumental (instrumentālis) | nabagu | nabagiem | nabagu | nabagām | |||||
| locative (lokatīvs) | nabagā | nabagos | nabagā | nabagās | |||||
| vocative (vokatīvs) | — | — | — | — | |||||
Synonyms
[edit]- (of "lacking possessions"): nabadzīgs, nemantīgs, mazturīgs, trūcīgs
- (of "deserving pity"): nabadzīgs
Antonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “nabags”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca[1] (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN