[sâlts]
CilmeDerived from a former verb *salt (“to be(come) sweet”) (compare Lithuanian sálti), which disappeared, possibly because of homophony with salt (“to be(come) cold”). It has the same stem as sāls (“salt”) (q.v.), with an extra d also found in other cognates. The meaning change of the verb salt was probably from “(being) salty, salted” to “having pleasant flavor, tasty” and then to “(being) sweetened, sweet.” Cognates include Lithuanian saldùs, Proto-Slavic *soldь (Old Church Slavonic сладъкъ (sladŭkŭ), Russian сла́дкий (sládkij)), German Salz, Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄 (salt) < *saltą (“salt”), Latin sallere (“to salt”) < *saldere, Old Armenian աղտ (ałt).
- sweet (having the flavor typical of, e.g., sugar, or honey)
“salds auglis” — sweet fruit
“salda sula” — sweet juice
“salda garša” — sweet taste
- sweet (containing sugar, or some similar substance)
“saldās mandeles” — sweet almonds
“saldais krējums” — sweet cream
“salds piens” — sweet, fresh milk
- sweet (having the smell typical of, e.g., phlox flowers)
“salds ziedu aromāts” — sweet floral fragrance
“vēsmoja salda ziedu smarža” — a sweet flower smell was wafting (around)
“viņa pienāca pie kabībes, apdvesdama Sproģi ar skurbinoši saldu parfīmu” — she came to the cabin, surrounding Sproģis with an inebriatingly sweet perfume
- sweet (very pleasant, physically or psychologically)
“salds brīdis” — sweet moment
“saldas atmiņas” — sweet memories
“saldu dusu!” — sleep well! (lit. sweet quietness, rest, sleep)
- excessively kind, excessively flattering, hypocritically subservient
“runāt saldā balsī” — to talk in a sweet (= flattering) voice
“rokas priekšautā slaucīdama, savu vissaldāko smaidu sejā, Bitiene iztecēja pretī” — wiping (her) hands on (her) apron, with her sweetest smile on (her) face, Bitiene came out toward (them)
- sentimental, lyrical
“salda dziesma” — sentimental (lit. sweet) song
“tenors dziedāja saldu dziesmu vācu valodā” — the tenor sang a sweet, sentimental song in German
Formassaldais(definite) · saldāks(comparative) · vissaldākais(superlative) · saldi(adverb) · salds(masculine, nominative, singular) · saldi(masculine, nominative, plural) · salda(feminine, nominative, singular) · saldas(feminine, nominative, plural) · salda(genitive, masculine, singular) · saldu(genitive, masculine, plural) · saldas(feminine, genitive, singular) · saldu(feminine, genitive, plural) · saldam(dative, masculine, singular) · saldiem(dative, masculine, plural) · saldai(dative, feminine, singular) · saldām(dative, feminine, plural) · saldu(accusative, masculine, singular) · saldus(accusative, masculine, plural) · saldu(accusative, feminine, singular) · saldas(accusative, feminine, plural)