English

Noun

valis

1. plural of vali

Friulian

Noun

valis

1. plural of val

Latvian

Zilais valis

Etymology

A borrowing from German Walfisch, a Germanic compound where Wal- is from Proto-Germanic *hwalaz ‎(“whale”). The word was first borrowed (as valzivs, a compound of val- with zivs ‎(“fish”) on the model of Wal-fisch, in the early 19th century; before that, only expressions like liela zivs “big fish” or jūras zvērs “sea beast” had been used. The form valis appeared in the early 20th century, and succeeded in replacing valzivs completely only in the 1950s.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [valis]

Noun

valis m (2nd declension)

1. whale (large maritime mammals of the order Cetaceae)

   dienvidu valis‎ ― southern whale

   zilais valis‎ ― blue whale

   vaļu medības‎ ― whaling (lit. whale hunting)

   vaļu medību kuģis‎ ― whaler (lit. whale hunting ship)

   lielākie mūsdienu zīdītāji, vaļi (dažu sugu īpatni pat 30 m gari) ir pastāvīgi ūdens iemītnieki‎ ― the largest modern mammals, whales (specimens of some species are up to 30m long) are permanent water inhabitants

Declension

References

1. ↑ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “valis”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, ISBN 9984-700-12-7