h34 wrote:Linguaphile wrote:h34 wrote:+ Latvian
Linguaphile wrote: gars
Oops, I put in the wrong language code (lt) and didn't notice that the wrong flag appeared; my
gars is Latvian, too! I like your explanation of it, though. Deleting mine.
Thanks! Perhaps you were right anyway because according to
this dictionary, Lithuanian
garas means 'steam', 'vapor' but the examples suggest that it's not only used in sauna-related contexts. In
this article it's called
pirties garas (
pirties = 'sauna', genitive).
Thanks! But I really wasn't 'right' because I just meant it to be Latvian. I just mixed up the flag codes
lt and
lv because in their native names both countries have both letters:
La
tvija &
Lie
tu
va. It really should be easy to remember though since only one of them has a letter
v in English. But for some reason I keep using the code
lt for Latvia anyway.
+ American spelling, because I know sooner or later someone is going to point out that I shouldn't have put the British flag next to the spelling
vapor.
leil
löil
(dialect of Hiiumaa) leün
(dialect of Kihnu) löyly
löülü
läul
ľöuľ
ľöľ
löülü
leülü
(dialect of Kõrvõttula) lõun
levlo
lievlâ
The Finnic and Saamic words come from a Proto-Finnic word *lewle meaning breath, soul. In some other branches of the Uralic family it still has that meaning and in some of the Finnic languages soul or life is still a secondary or metaphoric meaning. (pirties) garas
gars
Latvian gars seems to have a very broad meaning. Apart from 'sauna steam/vapor', it can be translated as 'spirit' (perhaps the primary meaning), sometimes as 'mindset', 'mind', 'intellect'... Also, 'ghost', 'spectre', 'mythological being with supernatural powers'...
Edit: lv.wiktionary mentions even more meanings, like 'the state of being alive', and 'soul' (otherwise dvēsele). sauna stream / sauna vapour (produced by throwing water on the hot stones)
sauna steam / sauna vapor (produced by throwing water on the hot stones)
el vapor de la sauna (producido al echar agua sobre las piedras calientes)
la vapeur dans un sauna (produite par le renversement d'eau sur les pierres chaudes)
пар в бане