menca
See also: mencā
Latvian
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Atlantic_cod.jpg/275px-Atlantic_cod.jpg)
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Baltic *menkyā-, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *menk- (“to knead, to crush”) (> “to weaken, to make small, low-valued”); the full en remained in Kurzeme dialects (compare, from the same stem, mīksts (“soft”), mīcīt (“to knead”), where en > ī), from which it spread to other dialects. The semantic development suggests that this fish was seen as unimportant or low-valued. Cognates include Lithuanian ménkė, dialectal menkia; the same stem is also found in Lithuanian meñkas (“minor, small, unimportant, weak”).[1]
Pronunciation
Audio: | (file) |
Noun
menca f (4th declension)
- cod, codfish (sea fish, family Gadidae)
- Atlantijas menca ― Atlantic cod
- mencu sugas ― cod species (plural)
- mencu zveja ― cod fishing
- mencu fileja ― cod filet
- kūpināta menca ― smoked cod
- menca eļļā ― codfish in oil
Declension
Declension of menca (4th declension)
References
- ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “menca”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN
Categories:
- Latvian etymologies from LEV
- Latvian terms derived from Proto-Baltic
- Latvian terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Latvian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latvian words with level intonation
- Latvian terms with audio links
- Latvian lemmas
- Latvian nouns
- Latvian feminine nouns
- Latvian terms with usage examples
- Latvian fourth declension nouns
- lv:Fish