anksti

Lithuanian

Etymology

Cognate with Old Prussian angstainai (“in the morning”); further origin outside of Baltic unclear.^[1] Various theories deriving the word from a metathesis of Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”) and comparing Proto-Germanic *unhtwǭ (“last part of the night”) and Ancient Greek ἀκτῑ́ς (aktī́s, “ray, beam”) are phonetically bold and semantically doubtful.^[2] Other derivations connecting the word to Sanskrit अञ्जसा (áñjasā, “straight on, quickly”) (for which see अञ्जस् (añjas, “speed, velocity”)) are dubious, due to the Sanskrit term seeming to derive from Proto-Indo-European *h₃engʷ- (“to smear, anoint”), while links to Proto-Slavic *nãglъ (“sudden, hasty”) and Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌺𐍃 (anaks, “suddenly”) are questionable.^[3]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɐŋkˈs̪ʲt̪ʲɪ]

Adverb

anksti̇̀ (comparative anksčiaũ, superlative anksčiáusiai)

early, prematurely

Adjective

anksti̇̀ f

nominative/vocative feminine singular of ankstùs

References

^ Derksen, Rick (2015), “anksti”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 56
^ “anksti”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012
^ Smoczyński, Wojciech (2007), “anksti̇̀”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka litewskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language]‎^[1] (in Polish), Vilnius: Vilnius University, page 16

[1] Derksen, Rick (2015), “anksti”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 56

[2] “anksti”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012

[3] Smoczyński, Wojciech (2007), “anksti̇̀”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka litewskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language]‎^[1] (in Polish), Vilnius: Vilnius University, page 16

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