mēle

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See also: mele, Mele, melé, mêle, melē, mêlé, and mēlē

Latgalian

Etymology

Cognates include Latvian mēle.

Pronunciation

Noun

mēle f (diminutive mēleite)

  1. tongue
  2. language

Declension

References

  • M. Bukšs, J. Placinskis (1973) Latgaļu volūdas gramatika un pareizraksteibas vōrdneica, Latgaļu izdevnīceiba, page 375
  • A. Andronov, L. Leikuma (2008) Latgalīšu-Latvīšu-Krīvu sarunu vuordineica, Lvava, →ISBN, page 13

Latvian

 mēle on Latvian Wikipedia
Mēle

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic *mel-, from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (to hit, to push, to crush, to grind) (whence also Latvian malt (to grind), q.v.; see also meli (lies)). The original meaning was apparently “(organ) used for pushing, grinding (food, in the mouth)”. Cognates include Lithuanian melekė̃lis (uvula), Russian dialectal ме́ля (mélja, chatterbox, chatty person).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key):
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

mēle f (5th declension)

  1. (anatomy) tongue (muscular mouth organ used for moving food around in the mouth, for tasting, and as one of the organs of speaking)
    mēles ķermenis, muskuļitongue body, muscles
    mēles galotnethe end(ing) of the tongue
    mēles galiņšthe tip of the tongue
    mēles saknethe root of the tongue
    mēles muguriņathe back of the tongue
    rādīt mēlito show, stick out one's tongue
    kaķis lok pienu ar mēlithe cat laps milk with his tongue
    laizīt ar mēlito lick with (one's) tongue
    mēli kļuvusi stīva, nevar parunā(his) tongue stiffened, he can't speak
    abiem mutes bija sausas, un viņi pārtrauca sarunas, lai mazliet sakrātu siekalas uz mēlesboth of them had dry mouths, and they stopped the conversation in order to save some saliva on (their) tongues
    latviešu valodā izšķir augsta, vidēja un zema mēles pacēluma priekšējās rindas patskaņusthe Latvian language distinguishes front vowels with high, medium and low tongue height
  2. (figuratively) tongue (way, style, attitude of speaking)
    asa mēlesharp tongue
    mēle kā nātrea tongue like nettles (= sharp tongue)
    ļauna mēleevil tongue
    veikla mēleagile tongue
    salda mēlesweet tongue
    mīlīga mēlefriendly, kind tongue
  3. (of animals) tongue (the animal's body part, seen as food)
    mēles desatongue sausage
    sautēta mēlestewed tongue
  4. (dated sense) tongue, language
    latviešu mēleLatvian tongue
    vācu, franču mēleGerman, French tongue
    sveša mēleforeign tongue
  5. (figuratively) potential informant, source (prisoner who can talk, who has valuable information about the enemy)
    saņemt mēlito get a potential informant (lit. tongue)
  6. (figuratively) tongue (an object or phenomenon with a flat, elongated shape)
    liesmu, uguns mēlesa tongue flame, fire
    zemes mēlea stripe, streak (lit. tongue) of land
    zvana vara mēle klusējathe bell's copper clapper was silent

Declension

References

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