źiśe

See also: zise, zīsè, and zǐsè

Lower Sorbian

Alternative forms

• źěśe (superseded)

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *dětę, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to suckle, suck”). Cognate with Upper Sorbian dźěćo, Polish dziecię, Czech dítě, Old Church Slavonic дѣти (děti), and Russian дитя (ditja).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʑiɕɛ/, [ˈʑiɕə]

Noun

źiśe n (genitive singular góleśa, nominative plural źiśi)

1. child

Declension

The words źiśe and góle are in a suppletive relationship. In the nominative and accusative singular, źiśe and góle are both found; in these cases góle implies a young child (up to about 6 years old) and źiśe a somewhat older one. The genitive, dative, instrumental, and locative singular as well the entire dual are formed from góle, while the plural is formed from źiśe; in these cases there is no semantic distinction between the two roots.

declension of źiśe and góle

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	źiśe; góle	góleśi	źiśi
Genitive	góleśa	góleśowu	źiśi
Dative	góleśeju, góleśu	góleśoma	źiśam
Accusative	źiśe; góle	góleśi	źiśi
Instrumental	góleśim	góleśoma	źiśimi
Locative	góleśu	góleśoma	źiśach

Derived terms

• źiśecy

Further reading

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “źiśe”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999) “źiśe”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag