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), 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kûɾls]

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): [kūɾls]

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

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

1. 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

2. 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

Usage notes

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

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)	—	—		—	—

Synonyms

• nedzirdīgs
• vājdzirdīgs

Antonyms

• dzirdīgs

Derived terms

• apkurlt
• kurlums
• pakurls