ģimene

See also: ģimenē

Latvian

Ģimene

Ģimene

Alternative forms

• (obsolete form) dzimene

Etymology

Borrowed from Lithuanian giminė̃ (“family; kin; genus; gender”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem-, the same root as the verb dzimt (“to be born”) (q.v.); cf. also Sudovian gimna (“family; uncles, their wives”). This borrowing is first attested in writings in the 1870s, with a broader range of meanings (“family, kin, generation, sex, gender”); the current meaning of “family” stabilized at the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1870s, Juris Alunāns attempted to correct it to dzimene (which would be the regular development if the word had not been borrowed), but this form never became popular. It replaced the previous borrowing famīlija (from German Familie).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɟimɛnɛ]

Noun

ģimene f (5th declension)

1. family (group formed by a couple and their children (if any) living together; larger group of relatives living together)

   daudzbērnu ģimene ― large (lit. many-children) family

   strādnieku ģimene ― worker's family

   zemnieku ģimene ― peasant family

   mazas ģimenes ― small families

   saskanīga ģimenes dzīve ― harmonious family life

   ģimenes stāvoklis ― marital status (lit. family state)

   ģimenes budžets ― family budget

   ģimenes galva ― head of the family (= the family's breadwinner)

   ģimenes māja ― family house

   ģimenes cilvēks ― married (lit. family) person, (usually a man)

   ģimenes tiesības ― family law (legislation concerning marriage, kinship, adoption, etc.)

   mūsu ģimene ir liela: tētis, māmiņa un septiņi bērni ― our family is big: father, mother and seven children

   A. Upīts romānā “Jauni Avoti”, tēlojot konfliktus starp Robežnieku ģimenes locekļiem, atspoguļo tam laikam raksturīgos konfliktus patriarhālās ģimenes iziruma apstākļos ― A. Upīts depicting in (his) novel “New Sources” the conflicts between the members of the Robežnieks family also portrayed the conflicts, typical of those times, in the process of disintegration of the patriarchal family

2. (livestock) a group of female animals descended from one breeder

   šodien pārrunā sevišķi aktuālas tēmas: aminoskābju palielināšana cūkgaļā, līniju un ģimeņu analīzes un citas svarīgas problemas ― today (they) discussed especially current issues: the increase of aminoacids in pork, the analysis of lines (= lineages) and families, and other important problems

3. (zoology) family (a group of animals consisting of a male, a female and their offspring, living and eating together)

   stārķu ģimene ― stork family, family of storks

   mežacūku ģimene ― wild boar family, family of wild boars

   tas, ko parasti uzskata par vilku baru, īstenībā ir viena vilku ģimene: veco vilku pāris un viņu šā gada un pērnie vilcēni, kas ziemas sākumā sanāk kopā ― that which one usually considers a pack of wolves is actually a family of wolves: an old wolf couple and their wolflings of this year and of the previous year, who get together at the beginning of winter

Declension

Declension of ģimene (5th declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	ģimene	ģimenes
accusative (akuzatīvs)	ģimeni	ģimenes
genitive (ģenitīvs)	ģimenes	ģimeņu
dative (datīvs)	ģimenei	ģimenēm
instrumental (instrumentālis)	ģimeni	ģimenēm
locative (lokatīvs)	ģimenē	ģimenēs
vocative (vokatīvs)	ģimene	ģimenes

Synonyms

• (of "household," "family + servants"): saime
• (of "extended family," "kin group"): dzimta, ģints
• (dated term) famīlija