žerchej

Upper Sorbian

Etymology

Uncertain. The form suggests Proto-Slavic *žьrxy. Ultimately possibly from:

• Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰer- (“to burn”) (compare Proto-Slavic *žeravъ (“burning, scorching”), Upper Sorbian žorizna (“slag, dross, scoria”), Lower Sorbian žoratk (“glowing pieces of coal; glowing ash”)), compare Old Czech žeřátek ~ řeřátek (“glowworm”)
• Proto-Slavic *žerti (“to devour”)
• Proto-Slavic *rězati (“to cut”)

Old Polish żerzucha, Old Czech žeřucha and Slovak žerucha suggest Proto-Slavic *žeřuxa (“garden cress”) (but compare alternative forms Old Polish rzeżucha ~ rzeżycha ~ rzerucha ~ rzerzucha ~ żerucha, Czech řeřicha, hapax Old Slovak žericha). Upper Sorbian žerich (“white goosefoot”), Lower Sorbian žeruch, žeruš (“Ranunculus thora ~ common water crowfoot; cress”) suggest Proto-Slavic *žerixъ, *žeruxъ, *žerušь respectively.

Compare also žerlica (“woodruff”), žerchwica (“bittercress (Cardamine)”), Lower Sorbian žerglica, žerchlica (“cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis)”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʒɛʀxɛj/
• Rhymes: -ɛʀxɛj
• Hyphenation: žer‧chej
• Syllabification: žer‧chej

Noun

žerchej f

1. cress

Declension

Declension of žerchej

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	žerchej	žerchwi	žerchwje
genitive	žerchwje	žerchwjow	žerchwjow
dative	žerchwi	žerchwjomaj	žerchwjam
accusative	žerchej	žerchwi	žerchwje
instrumental	žerchwju	žerchwjomaj	žerchwjemi
locative	žerchwi	žerchwjomaj	žerchwjach
vocative	žerchej	žerchwi	žerchwje

or

Declension of žerchej

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	žerchej	žercheji	žercheje
genitive	žercheje	žerchejow	žerchejow
dative	žercheji	žerchejomaj	žerchejam
accusative	žerchej	žercheji	žercheje
instrumental	žercheju	žerchejomaj	žerchejemi
locative	žercheji	žerchejomaj	žerchejach
vocative	žerchej	žercheji	žercheje

Derived terms

nouns

• zahrodna žerchej f

 

Further reading

• “žerchej” in Soblex
• Schuster-Šewc, Heinz (1989) “žerchej”, in Historisch-etymologisches Wörterbuch der ober- und niedersorbischen Sprache [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Upper and Lower Sorbian Language] (in German), numbers 23 (zahroda – žrěbjo), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, →ISBN, page 1790