kurls

Latvian

Kurlas meitenes

Alternative forms

(dialectal form) kursls

Etymology

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). 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 кърнъ (kŭrnŭ, “mutilated (ears, nose)”).^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA: [kūɾls]

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Adjective

kurls (def. kurlais, comp. kurlāks, sup. viskurlākais; irreg. adv. (none))

deaf (not capable of hearing sounds)
kurlas meitenes — deaf girls

būt kurlam ar labo ausi — to be deaf on the right ear

viņa bija pilnīgi kurla, sen jau atradinājusies klausīties un mēģināt saprast, ko citi runāja — she 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
deaf (who does not want to listen; disobedient)
būt kurlam pret labiem padomiem — to be deaf to good advice

Ieva bija un palika pret šiem svarīgiem krusttēva pierādījumiem kurla — Ieva was and remained deaf to her uncle's important (pieces of) evidence

Declension

indefinite declension (nenoteiktā galotne) of kurls

	masculine (vīriešu dzimte)		feminine (sieviešu dzimte)
	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	kurls	kurli	kurla	kurlas
accusative (akuzatīvs)	kurlu	kurlus	kurlu	kurlas
genitive (ģenitīvs)	kurla	kurlu	kurlas	kurlu
dative (datīvs)	kurlam	kurliem	kurlai	kurlām
instrumental (instrumentālis)	kurlu	kurliem	kurlu	kurlām
locative (lokatīvs)	kurlā	kurlos	kurlā	kurlās
vocative (vokatīvs)	—	—	—	—