kurls

• (dialectal form) kursls

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]

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• IPA^(key):

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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

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.

• nedzirdīgs
• vājdzirdīgs

• dzirdīgs

• apkurlt
• kurlums
• pakurls