pasaka

pa- +‎ saka

• Hyphenation: pa‧sa‧ka

pasaka

1. vertical; standing, pointing, or moving straight up or down; along the direction of a plumb line; perpendicular to something horizontal

From pa- +‎ the verb sacīt (“to say, to tell”) (in its present tense stem sak-); cf. dialectal saka (“tale, saying”). The original meaning was thus “something to be said, told.” Cognates include Lithuanian pãsaka.[1]

pasaka f (4th declension)

1. legend, folktale, fairy tale (folkloric narrative, typically including fantastic or magic elements; the corresponding folkloric genre)

   vākt, publicēt tautas pasakas ― to collect, to publish folk tales

   latviešu tautas pasakas ― Latvian folktales

   pasaku teicējs, stastītājs ― storyteller

   pasaku grāmata ― book of folktales

   stastīt bērniem pasakas ― to tell fairy tales to the children

   dzīvnieku pasakas ― animal tales

   K. Skalbes pasakas ― K. Skalbe's fairy tales

2. (figuratively) uncommonly beautiful, pleasant, good

   kā pasakā ― as in a fairy tale (i.e., very good, very beautiful)

   tā nebija platmale, bet pasaka! ― that was not a hat, but a fairy tale!

   visiem tas šķita pasaka, nevis kuģis ― to all it seemed more like a fairy tale than a ship

3. (usually in the plural) nonsense, fantasy, exaggerations, rumors

   nestāsti nu pasakas! ― don't you tell fairy tales!

   tās ir tīrās pasakas ― this is pure fantasy

• pasakains

pasaka

1. third-person singular/plural present indicative of pasacīt
2. (with the particle lai) third-person singular imperative of pasacīt
3. (with the particle lai) third-person plural imperative of pasacīt

pãsaka f (plural pãsakos)

1. fairy tale