sūkt

Latvian

Etymology

This word results from the conflation of two independent stems: Proto-Indo-European *sew-, *sū-, *su- (“juice, moisture; to press juice; to suck”) with an extra -k, yielding Proto-Baltic *sūk- > Latvian sūk-; and Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to drain, to dry up, to fall (water)”) with an infix n, yielding a reduced grade *sn̥k- > Proto-Baltic *sunk- > Latvian sūk-. Cognates via the first stem (*sew-k-) include Old High German sūgan, German saugen, Dutch zuigen, Latin sūgere, sūcus (“juice”); cognates via the second stem (*sn̥k-) include Lithuanian suñkti (“to press (juice)”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

sūkt (transitive, 1st conjugation, present sūcu, sūc, sūc, past sūcu)

1. to suck; to absorb, to pump (to cause liquids, gases, etc. to move by rarefying the air inside some instrument, body part (especially the mouth), etc.)

   sūkt pienu ― to suck milk

   dēles, odi sūc asinis ― leeches, mosquitoes suck blood

   bites sūc ziedu sulu ― bees suck flower juice

   sūkt dzērienu ar salmiņu ― to suck drink with a straw

   sūkt dūmus no cigaretes ― to suck smoke from a cigarette

   sūknis sūc ūdens ― the pump sucks, pumps water

   audums sūc mitrumu ― the fabric sucks (up), absorbs moisture

   augi sūc barības vielas ― plants suck (up) nutricious substances

   lūpas apdedzinādams, Valdis sūca karsto kafiju un vēroja vīrus ― burning his lips, Valdis sucked, sipped the hot coffee and watched the men

2. to sip (to drink with the lips pressed together; to drink slowly)

   Vaguļa brālēns sūca vēso limonādi, jo šī augusta diena bija vēl diezgan karsta ― Vagulis' cousin sipped cool lemonade, because that day of August was still rather hot

   četri vīri sūca alu un vēroja svešnieku, kas turēja rokā kļavu lapas ― four men were sipping beer and observing the stranger who held maple leaves in (his) hands

3. to smoke (a pipe, a cigarette, etc.)

   Ķimelis mierīgi sūca pīpi un izlikās neklausāmies sievas valodā ― Ķimelis quietly sucked, smoked his pipe not to listen to his wife's language (= what she was saying)

   mēs klusējām un, domās iegrimuši, sūcām cigaretes ― we were silent and, absorbed in thought, we sucked, smoked cigarettes

Conjugation

Synonyms

• (especially iterative): sūkāt, sūkstīt
• (especially mother's milk): zīst

Derived terms

prefixed verbs:

other derived terms:

• sūcējs, sūcēja

Related terms

• sūknis

References