bērzs

Latvian

Bērzs

Alternative forms

• (dialectal forms) bērza, bērze

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Baltic *berž-, perhaps (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Balto-Slavic *berźas, *berźā (with the long ē caused by the level intonation: er̄ > ēːr), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵs, a nominalized adjectival form, originally meaning “bright; white” (compare Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷𐍄 (bairht, “light, bright”), English bright), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“bright, light brown”). Dialectal bērze is closer to (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Prussian, while dialectal bērza is closer to Slavic. Cognates include Lithuanian béržas, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Prussian berse, Proto-Slavic *berza (Old Church Slavonic брѣза (brěza), Russian берёза (berjóza), Belarusian бяро́за (bjaróza), Ukrainian бере́за (beréza), Bulgarian бреза́ (brezá), Czech bříza, Polish brzoza), Old English beorc, Old High German birka, English birch, German Birke, Sanskrit भूर्ज (bhūrjá), Latin frāxinus (“ash tree”) (< *bʰerHǵ-s-enos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bǣːrs]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

bērzs m (1st declension)

1. birch tree (gen. Betula)

   bērza lapa, malka, tāss ― birch leaf, wood, bark

   purva bērzs ― bog birch

   āra bērzs ― silver birch, European white birch

   nocirst bērzu ― to cut down a birch tree

   bērzu sula ― birch juice

   bērzu slota ― birch broom

   sasiet bērza zarus slotā ― to tie birch branches into a broom

Declension

Declension of bērzs (1st declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	bērzs	bērzi
accusative (akuzatīvs)	bērzu	bērzus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	bērza	bērzu
dative (datīvs)	bērzam	bērziem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	bērzu	bērziem
locative (lokatīvs)	bērzā	bērzos
vocative (vokatīvs)	bērz	bērzi

See also

• tāss