ёрш

Russian

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Slavic *jerъxь (“something thorny, jagged”), from *(j)erъx-.

Per Vasmer, the original meaning (still found dialectally) was "jagged nail". In the contemporary sense attested since late 15th century.

Cognate with Ukrainian йорж (jorž, “ruffe”). Compare also Russian еро́шить (jeróšitʹ, “to ruffle”), Russian еро́ховый (jeróxovyj, “branchy, gnarly”) (about a tree or wood, dialectal), Lithuanian erškė̃tis, Latvian ẽršk̨is (“thorn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [jɵrʂ]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

ёрш • (jorš) m anim or m inan (genitive ерша́, nominative plural ерши́, genitive plural ерше́й, diminutive ёршик)

1. ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua syn. Acerina cernua)
2. bristle brush, bottle brush
3. go-devil
4. mixture of vodka and beer

Declension

Declension of ёрш (bian masc-form sibilant-stem accent-b) 

	singular	plural
nominative	ёрш jórš	ерши́ jerší
genitive	ерша́ jeršá	ерше́й jeršéj
dative	ершу́ jeršú	ерша́м jeršám
accusative animate inanimate	ерша́ jeršá	ерше́й jeršéj
	ёрш jórš	ерши́ jerší
instrumental	ершо́м jeršóm	ерша́ми jeršámi
prepositional	ерше́ jeršé	ерша́х jeršáx

Derived terms

• ерши́ться impf (jeršítʹsja)
• ерши́стый (jeršístyj)

Related terms

• еро́шить impf (jeróšitʹ), взъеро́шить pf (vzʺjeróšitʹ)

Descendants

• → Ingrian: joršši
• → Kildin Sami: ёаҏҏьш (jår̥r̥’š)

References

• Kiparsky, Valentin (1975) Russische historische Grammatik. Band III: Entwicklung des Wortschatzes (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 171
• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “ерш”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress