kurls

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Latvian

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Kurlas meitenes

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From a parallel form *kurt of the (old) verb kurst (to be(come) pierced, hollow, torn), derived with an extra -l (cf. also the dialectal form kursls, from kurst), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (to cut off).

The semantic evolution was: “with holes, hollow” > “having ears with holes, mutilated ears” > “not hearing well” > “deaf”. Cognates include Lithuanian kur̃čias, dialectal kur̃las, kur̃tas, Old Church Slavonic крънъ (krŭnŭ, mutilated (ears, nose)), Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬭𐬥𐬀 (karna), Northern Kurdish kerr.[1]

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [kûɾls]
  • Audio:(file)
  • IPA(key): [kūɾls]
  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

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kurls (definite kurlais, comparative kurlāks, superlative viskurlākais, no adverb)

  1. deaf (not capable of hearing sounds)
    kurlas meitenesdeaf girls
    būt kurlam ar labo ausito be deaf on the right ear
    viņa bija pilnīgi kurla, sen jau atradinājusies klausīties un mēģināt saprast, ko citi runājashe was completely deaf, she had long ago given up listening and trying to understand what others say
    ausis bija pilnīgi aizkritušas, viņš gāja kā kurls(his) ears were completely closed, he walked as if deaf
    ausis kurlas no lādiņu kaucieniem un detonācijām(his) ears (were) deaf from the howl and detonation of the (bomb)shells
  2. deaf (who does not want to listen; disobedient)
    būt kurlam pret labiem padomiemto be deaf to good advice
    Ieva bija un palika pret šiem svarīgiem krusttēva pierādījumiem kurlaIeva was and remained deaf to her uncle's important (pieces of) evidence

Usage notes

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Level intonation is the standard intonation for the term kurls (deaf) according to Latviešu etimoloģijas vārdnīca, pronunciation with a broken intonation is very common, however.

Declension

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Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992) “kurls”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca[1] (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN