Latgalian

Verb

gulēt

1. to sleep

Latvian

Gulēt (1)

Etymology

From the same stem as the verb gult ‎(“to lie down”) (q.v.), of which it was originally the iterative (and possibly causative) form. Originally it was an i-stem, as can be seen in dialectal forms like gulim, gulit instad of guļam, guļat. Cognates include Lithuanian gulė́ti, Sudovian guld (< *gult).^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɡulɛ̂ːt]

Verb

gulēt intr., 3rd conj. irregular, pres. guļu, guli, guļ, past gulēju

1. to sleep, to be asleep

   gulēt visu nakti‎ ― to sleep the whole night

   saldi gulēt‎ ― to sleep sweetly (= deeply)

   gulēt saldā miegā, saldu miegu‎ ― to sleep a sweet (= deep) sleep

   laiks gulēt‎ ― it is time to sleep

   bērnam gribas gulēt‎ ― the child wants to sleep

   (aiz)iet gulēt‎ ― to go to sleep

   ej (nu) gulēt!‎ ― go to sleep!

   guļ kā lācis‎ ― he sleeps like a bear (= very long)

   gulēt dienvidu‎ ― to take an afternoon nap (lit. to sleep midday)

2. (of people, animals) to lie down (to be in horizontal position)

   gulēt uz sāniem‎ ― to lie down sideways, on one's side

   gulēt uz muguras‎ ― to lie on one's back

   gulēt ar vaļējām acīm‎ ― to lie down with one's eyes open

   gulēt saulē‎ ― to lie in the sun

   gulēt smiltīs, pludmalē‎ ― to lie on the sand, at the beach

3. to lie in bed because of sickness; to be bedridden

   gulēt ar gripu‎ ― to be sick (lit. lie) with the flu

   gulēt ar plaušu karsoni‎ ― to be sick (lit. lie) with pneumonia

   gulēt nesamaņā‎ ― to lie unconscious

   gulēt slimnīcā‎ ― to be (lit. lie) in a hospital (= to be in treatmnet)

   gulēt uz (slimības) gultā‎ ― to be bedridden (lit. to lie in (an illness) bed)

   gulēt uz nāves gultā‎ ― to lie in one's death bed (terminal patient)

4. (of dead people) to lie, to rest (to be buried in a grave)

   gulēt mūžīgā miegā‎ ― to lie in eternal sleep (= to be dead)

   gulēt zem (zaļām) velēnām‎ ― to lie under the (green) grass

   tēvs guļ smilšu kalniņā‎ ― father lies/rests in the sand hill

   kur viņi ir, manu seno dienu draugi?... cits guļ tālās Spānijas mežonīgo kalnu klintīs, cits Francijas pretošanās kustības nezināmo varoņu brāļu kapā‎ ― where are they, the friends of my old days?... one lies (= is buried) in the rocks of the wild Spanish mountains, another one in the grave of an unknown hero of the French Resistance

5. (of plants) to lie (on the ground)

   parastās, gulošās tomātu šķirnes‎ ― a common, lying (on the ground) variety of tomato

6. (of objects) to lie, to be in a lying position

   uz galda guļ maizes klaips‎ ― on the table (there) lies a loaf of bread

   šķūnī guļ pērnais siens‎ ― in the barn (there) lies last year's hay

   viņa jau jūt, ka smaga roka guļ uz viņas pleca‎ ― she felt that a heavy hand (was) lying on her shoulder

   laivā gulēja loms: divas līdakas un vienu prāvs asaris‎ ― in the boat (there) lay the catch: two pikes and one large perch

7. (of objects) to lie (idle), to not be in use

   ceļu un transporta trūkuma dēļ neskartas guļ milzu bagātības‎ ― due to lack of roads and transportation, giant wealth lies untouched (under the ground)

   viņš iegriezās zvejnieku savienības veikalā un apskatījās, kādas preces guļ plauktos‎ ― he came into the fishermen union shop and checked which goods were lying on the shelves

8. (of fluid substances, light, darkness) to spread over, to occupy (a place)

   pāri pilsētai gulēja nomākusies debess‎ ― over the city a cloudy sky lay (= hovered, spread)

   virs upes jau gulēja sniega ūdeņi‎ ― on the river the snow water was lying

   pār kalniem gulēja tumsa kā jūra pār koraļļu rifiem‎ ― the darkness lay over the hills like the sea over coral reefs

   ielejā jau gulēja ēnas‎ ― in the valley a shadow was lying

   rīta klusums gulēja pār zemi‎ ― the morning silence lay (= spread itself) over the land

Conjugation

Usage notes

There are two forms of the present active participle: guļošs and gulošs, both acceptable (the latter more frequent). Some authors suggest that guļošs should only be used in the sense of “sleeping,” while gulošs would have the more general sense of “lying (down).” In actual practice, however, this distinction is often not maintained.

Synonyms

• migt, aizmigt
• (poetic) dusēt

Derived terms

prefixed verbs:

Related terms

• gult, gulties
• gulta
• guļus

See also

• miegs

References

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