FromProto-Baltic*sal-,*sāl-, fromProto-Balto-Slavic*sāˀlis, fromProto-Indo-European*sal-,*seh₂l-(“salt, sea salt”), perhaps related to the homophonous stem*sal-(“grayish, impure gray”).
InLatvian, both ani-stem (*salis) and aniyo-stem (*saliyos >*saliys >*salis) were formed, yielding present-daysāls, feminine, genitivesāls, andsāls, masculine, genitivesāļa. Cognates includeLithuaniansólymas(“salt water, brine”) (<*solis),Old Prussiansal,Old Church Slavonicсоль(solĭ),Russianсоль(solʹ),Ukrainianсіль(silʹ), genitiveсоли(soly),Bulgarianсол(sol),Czechsůl,Polishsól,Proto-Germanic*saltą (Gothic𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄(salt),Old High Germansalz,GermanSalz,Englishsalt),Old Irishsalann,Ancient Greekἅλς(háls), genitiveἁλός(halós),Latinsāl, genitivesālis,Sanskritसलिल(salilá,“salty”).[1]
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sāls f orm (6th or 2nd declension, irregular nominative, genitive)
Although officially a feminine sixth-declension noun in standard Latvian,sāls is often used in colloquial Latvian as a masculine second-declension noun.
| singular (vienskaitlis) | plural (daudzskaitlis) | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | sāls | sālis |
| genitive | sāls | sāļu |
| dative | sālij | sālīm |
| accusative | sāli | sālis |
| instrumental | sāli | sālīm |
| locative | sālī | sālīs |
| vocative | sāls | sālis |
| singular (vienskaitlis) | plural (daudzskaitlis) | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | sāls | sāļi |
| genitive | sāļa | sāļu |
| dative | sālim | sāļiem |
| accusative | sāli | sāļus |
| instrumental | sāli | sāļiem |
| locative | sālī | sāļos |
| vocative | sāli | sāļi |