skābt

Latvian

From an earlier *skābti, from Proto-Baltic *skāb-ti/tey, from Proto-Indo-European *skēb-, *skēbʰ- (“to slice, to cut with a sharp tool”), from the stem *sek- (“to cut”) with an extra -b(ʰ). The semantic change, apparently exclusive to Balto-Slavic languages, was: “to cut” > “to become sharp (by, for cutting)” > “to become sharp (in taste)” > “to become sour, acid.” Cognates include Lithuanian skõbti (“to carve, to hollow out, to pluck”), dialectal skóbti (“to go sour”), Old Church Slavonic скобль (skoblĭ, “scraper”), Russian ско́бель (skóbelʹ, “plane iron, scraper”), Bulgarian хо́бя (hóbja, “to damage”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (skaban, “to shear”), Old High German scaba (“plane”), German schaben (“to scrape, to scrub”), Latin scabō (“to scratch, to scrape”).^[1]

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

skābt (intransitive, 1st conjugation, present skābstu, skābsti, skābst, past skābu)

(usually 3rd person) to become, go sour, acid
piens siltumā skābst ― milk goes sour in the heat

piens sācis skābt ― the milk has begun to go sour

augsnēm ar lielu ūdens daudzumu ir pastiprināta tieksme skābt un kļūt nederīgām tādu kultūru audzēšanā, kas skābumu nepacieš ― soils with a large amount of water have an increased propensity to acidify and become unfit for those cultures that cannot endure acidity
(of people) to become sour, surly, irritated, frustrated
mājās ķildīga sieva lai skābst, / pilsonis ruma un mīlas slāpst ― let the peevish wife go sour at home, / a citizen is thirsty for love and rum

bet vai tad ne no šā, ne no tā var tikai skābt? nebūt ne! ja vien cilvēks pēc dabas nav sirdīgs īgņa ― but should one really go sour not from this, not from that (= for no reason)? not at all! unless one is by nature a grumbler

conjugation of skābt

	INDICATIVE (īstenības izteiksme)				IMPERATIVE (pavēles izteiksme)
		Present (tagadne)	Past (pagātne)	Future (nākotne)	IMPERATIVE (pavēles izteiksme)
1st pers. sg.	es	skābstu	skābu	skābšu	—
2nd pers. sg.	tu	skābsti	skābi	skābsi	skābsti
3rd pers. sg.	viņš, viņa	skābst	skāba	skābs	lai skābst
1st pers. pl.	mēs	skābstam	skābām	skābsim	skābsim
2nd pers. pl.	jūs	skābstat	skābāt	skābsiet, skābsit	skābstiet
3rd pers. pl.	viņi, viņas	skābst	skāba	skābs	lai skābst

RENARRATIVE (atstāstījuma izteiksme)			PARTICIPLES (divdabji)
Present	skābstot		Present Active 1 (Adj.)		skābstošs
Past	esot skābis		Present Active 2 (Adv.)		skābdams
Future	skābšot		Present Active 3 (Adv.)		skābstot
Imperative	lai skābstot		Present Active 4 (Obj.)		skābstam
CONDITIONAL (vēlējuma izteiksme)			Past Active		skābis
Present	skābtu		Present Passive		—
Past	būtu skābis		Past Passive		—
DEBITIVE (vajadzības izteiksme)			NOMINAL FORMS
Indicative	(būt) jāskābst		Infinitive (nenoteiksme)		skābt
Conjunctive 1	esot jāskābst		Negative Infinitive		neskābt
Conjunctive 2	jāskābstot		Verbal noun		skābšana

prefixed verbs:

other derived terms:

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