Latvian

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Etymology

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From aiz- +‎ liegt. Its original meaning was probably “to bend, to turn (away)” (possibly also influenced by liekt, which has these meanings), from which the current meaning “to prohibit, to forbid” could have evolved metaphorically, either via “turn (away)” > “not allow access (to something)” > “to prohibit (access to something)” > “to prohibit (in general),” or via “to bend (something)” > “to prevent access (by bending something in front of it)” (cf. aizliegt ceļu “to restrict the way,” perhaps originally “to bend (a tree) so that it restricts access to the way”) > “to prohibit.”[1]

Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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aizliegt (transitive, 1st conjugation, present aizliedzu, aizliedz, aizliedz, past aizliedzu)

  1. to prohibit, to forbid (to not allow something to happen, to be done)
    aizliegt smēķēt darba telpāsto prohibit smoking at work
    aizliegt zvejot nārsta laikāto prohibit fishing during the spawning season
    aizliegts ar likumuprohibited by law
    dabas aizsardzības likums aizliedz vākt jebkuru ūdensputnu olasthe environment protection laws prohibits the collection of any waterfowl eggs
  2. to prohibit (to not allow access to, or the use or production of, something)
    aizliegt kodolieročusto prohibit nuclear weapons
    aizliegtā literatūraprohibited literature
    aizliegts auglisforbidden fruit
    Latvijas ūdeņos ķert zivis ir atļauts... izņemot aizliegtās zonasit is permitted to catch fish in Latvian waters... except (in) the restricted areas
  3. (dated sense) reject, refuse
    tu aplamnieks, kas aizliedz savu tēvijuyou (are) an ignorant who rejects his own fatherland
    cerams, ka Reihvalda jaunkundze turpmāk neaizliedz savu tēvuMiss Reihvalda will hopefully no longer reject her father

Conjugation

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References

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