Grammar 2.3:

2.3.1 ALL LATVIAN NOUNS HAVE A GENDER, which should not be confused with sex. The gender distinctions are only a grammatical device that helps to handle the nouns. This device, therefore, extends even to the names of objects. Thus the nouns mute 'mouth', mugura 'back', spalva 'pen', etc. grammatically have the feminine gender (note their resemblance to the nouns like māte 'mother' and māsa 'sister').

Likewise, the nouns de*guns-- 'nose', vē*de*rs-- 'stomach', zīmulis --'pencil', etc. have the grammatical masculine gender (and they resemble such nouns as zē*ns --'boy' and brālis --'brother').

2.3.2 FEMININE i-STEM NOUNS. In the previous lesson (see Gr-2.2.11), we noted four declensional stems to which the nouns, thus far introduced, belonged. In this lesson, nouns of one more declensional stem are added. These nouns are called feminine i-stem nouns, and they have the following features:

a. They have i as their stem vowel and use it (with one exception) as the other feminine nouns use theirs (acs, acij 'eye' is our example):

b. These nouns omit their stem vowel in the nominative singular, where they look like the masculine a-stem nouns: acs (feminine), ple*cs (masculine). This fact emphasizes once more that BOTH PRINCIPAL PARTS OF EACH NOUN NEED TO BE MEMORIZED: acs, acij = feminine vs. ple*cs, ple*cam = masculine.

c. In the dative singular the feminine gender marker -i is spelled as -j to avoid the duplication of *-ii. Thus we write acij, instead of *acii.

2.3.3 PHONOLOGICAL NOTES

a. The nom. singular form zods 'chin' must be-pronounced as [zuo*ts] with a [-t-] due to the voiceless ending -s.

b. The word tē*vs 'father' is pronounced [tē*u*s] or even [tē*s]. In all other forms, of course, the -v- is heard: [tē*vam], [tē*vi], etc.

c. In the word auss 'ear' there is a double -ss, and it must be pronounced longer than a single [s].

2.3.4 POSSESSIVE STRUCTURES, in Latvian there is no verb "to have'. The possession or ownership must be expressed in a roundabout way. For example, the notion I have a sister comes out as "to me (there) is a sister": man ir māsa. Analyzing the last sentence, we see that:

a. The logical subject is in the dative case - man -- 'to me'.

b. The verb is the 3rd common person of "to be" - ir -- 'is' or 'there is'.

c. The logical object is in the nominative case - māsa -- 'a sister'.

THIS ANALYSIS CAN BE TAKEN AS A FORMULA FOR MAKING ALL POSSESSIVE STRUCTURES.

2.3.41 Furthermore, this formula implies that THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING AND HAVING IS EXPRESSED NOT BY TWO DIFFERENT VERBS, BUT BY TWO DIFFERENT SENTENCE STRUCTURES. Thus to say es esmu -- 'I am' the nominative subject and the verb form of "be" is used that agrees with the subject. But, to say man ir -- 'I have', the dative subject and a fixed non-agreeing third person form of "be" are used.

a. THE PAST AND FUTURE TENSES of the possessive structures are obtained by the change of the tenses of the 3rd person verb form: man bija -- 'I had', viņam bija -- 'he had'; mums būs -- 'we will have', mātei būs -- 'mother will have, etc.

b. The possessive structures in Latvian should remind you of similar English phrasings with the verb "belong": The pen belongs to me. -- Pildspalva pieder man.

2.3.42 THE VERB COMPLEMENT OF BOTH STRUCTURES IS IN THE NOMINATIVE CASE.

Since the verb and the complement parts in such sentences are so similar, take care to use the correct subject form to avoid absurdities:

2.3.43 SOME LOCATIVE FORMS to go with the possessive structures are used in this lesson (other locatives will be studied in Unit 3):

In Latvian the possessive pronoun is omitted where its meaning is obvious:

Example: Man ir grāmata rokā.
Not: Man ir grāmata manā rokā.

However, the translation must follow the rules of English usage:

'I have a book in my hand.'

2.3.44 QUESTION SENTENCES IN THE POSSESSIVE STRUCTURE:

YES OR NO QUESTION:

ELICITS THE SUBJECT:

ELICITS THE OBJECT:

2.3.45 QUESTION INTRODUCED BY KUR -- 'WHERE' elicits a location in the answer: