Latgalian

Noun

mēle f

1. tongue

Latvian

Mēle

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic *mel-, from Proto-Indo-European *mel- ‎(“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 меля ‎(mélja, “chatterbox, chatty person”).^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mɛ̀ːlɛ]

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, muskuļi‎ ― tongue body, muscles

   mēles galotne‎ ― the end(ing) of the tongue

   mēles galiņš‎ ― the tip of the tongue

   mēles sakne‎ ― the root of the tongue

   mēles muguriņa‎ ― the back of the tongue

   rādīt mēli‎ ― to show, stick out one's tongue

   kaķis lok pienu ar mēli‎ ― the cat laps milk with his tongue

   laizīt ar mēli‎ ― to 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 mēles‎ ― both 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 patskaņus‎ ― the Latvian language distinguishes front vowels with how, medium and low tongue height

2. (figuratively) tongue (way, style, attitude of speaking)

   asa mēle‎ ― sharp tongue

   mēle kā nātre‎ ― a tongue like nettles (= sharp tongue)

   ļauna mēle‎ ― evil tongue

   veikla mēle‎ ― agile tongue

   salda mēle‎ ― sweet tongue

   mīlīga mēle‎ ― friendly, kind tongue

3. (of animals) tongue (the animal's body part, seen as food)

   mēles desa‎ ― tongue sausage

   sautēta mēle‎ ― stewed tongue

4. (dated) tongue, language

   latviešu mēle‎ ― Latvian tongue

   vācu, franču mēle‎ ― German, French tongue

   sveša mēle‎ ― foreign tongue

5. (figuratively) potential informant, source (prisoner who can talk, who has valuable information about the enemy)

   saņemt mēli‎ ― to get a potential informant (lit. tongue)0

6. (figuratively) tongue (an object or phenomenon with a flat, elongated shape)

   liesmu, uguns mēles‎ ― a tongue flame, fire

   zemes mēle‎ ― a stripe, streak (lit. tongue) of land

   zvana vara mēle klusēja‎ ― the bell's copper clapper was silent

Declension

References

1. ↑ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “mēle”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, ISBN 9984-700-12-7