stirna

See also: stirnā

Latvian

Stirna

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *śírˀnāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂-néh₂, from *ḱerh₂- (“head, top, horn”), with an extra -n (from which also German Horn, English horn, Latin cornū and also cervus (“deer”)), which yielded Latvian archaic sirna.

The presence of a t has given rise to various explanations: st- < *ts-; metathesis (sirna > *srina) with t epenthesis; contamination or influence from some other animal name, e.g., taurs; borrowing from a Slavic language with changes to conform to Baltic pronunciation. More recently, it has been suggested that stirna might come from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“red, pink”) in the reduced grade *sr̥-no-, causing t epenthesis in Baltic. Cognates include Lithuanian stìrna, Old Prussian sirwis, Proto-Slavic *sьrna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [stīɾna]

Noun

stirna f (4th declension)

1. roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)

   stirnu āzis, stirnuāzis, stirnāzis ― male roe deer

   stirnu buks ― male roe deer

   stirnu kaza, mātīte ― female roe deer

   stirnu mazulis ― baby roe deer, fawn (syn. stirnēns)

   stirnas pašlaik aizliegts medīt ― roe deer hunting is now prohibited

   meitene viegla kā stirna ― a girl as light as a roe deer

Declension

Declension of stirna (4th declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	stirna	stirnas
accusative (akuzatīvs)	stirnu	stirnas
genitive (ģenitīvs)	stirnas	stirnu
dative (datīvs)	stirnai	stirnām
instrumental (instrumentālis)	stirnu	stirnām
locative (lokatīvs)	stirnā	stirnās
vocative (vokatīvs)	stirna	stirnas

Derived terms

• stirnāzis, stirnuāzis, stirnu āzis
• stirnēns

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Lithuanian

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *śírˀnāˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂-néh₂, from *ḱerh₂- (“head, top, horn”), with an extra -n (from which also German Horn, English horn, Latin cornū and also cervus (“deer”)).

More recently, it has been suggested that stirna might come from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“red, pink”) in the reduced grade *sr̥-no-, causing t epenthesis in Baltic. Cognates include stirna, Old Prussian sirwis, Proto-Slavic *sьrna.

Noun

stìrna f stress pattern 1

1. roe

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Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *stirniju.

Noun

stirna m

1. forehead

Descendants

• Middle High German: stirne
  • German: Stirn
  • Luxembourgish: Stier
  • Yiddish: שטערן (shtern)