Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/dьrča

This Proto-Slavic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Slavic

Etymology 1

Action noun of *dьrkati (“to pluck, to tug”) +‎ *-ja, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to tear, to split”).

Noun

*dь̃rča f

1. stomach growling (due to hunger)
2. (by extension) hunger, famine

   Synonym: *goldъ

Alternative forms

• *dьrca

Declension

Declension of *dь̃rča (soft a-stem, accent paradigm b)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*dь̃rča	*dь̃rči	*dь̃rčę̇
genitive	*dь̃rčę̇	*dь̃rču	*dь̃rčь
dative	*dь̃rči	*dь̃rčama	*dь̃rčamъ
accusative	*dь̃rčǫ	*dь̃rči	*dь̃rčę̇
instrumental	*dь̃rčejǫ, *dь̃rčǫ**	*dь̃rčama	*dь̃rčamī
locative	*dь̃rči	*dь̃rču	*dь̃rčasъ, *dь̃rčaxъ*
vocative	*dьrče	*dь̃rči	*dь̃rčę̇

^* -asъ is the expected Balto-Slavic form but is found only in some Old Czech documents; -axъ is found everywhere else and is formed by analogy with other locative plurals in -xъ.
^** The second form occurs in languages that contract early across /j/ (e.g. Czech), while the first form occurs in languages that do not (e.g. Russian).

Related terms

• *dьrkačь (“corncrake”)
• *dьrcati (“to pluck, to jerk”)
• *dьrgati (“to comb, to scratch”)

Descendants

• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: дръ́ча (drǎ́ča), дъ́рца (dǎ́rca) (dialectal)
  • Serbo-Croatian: др́ц m (colloquial, in Torlak dialects)

Further reading

• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “дърцам, дръцвам, дръцкам, дръцна”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 465

Etymology 2

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *dírkjāˀ.

According to BER, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerk- (“to dim, to darken”). Likely related to Lithuanian darkùs (“dirty, nasty, bad (for weather)”), Latvian dārks (“spotted, variegarted”). Further akin to Proto-West Germanic *derk (“dark”), Proto-Celtic *dergos (“crimson”), Tocharian A tärkär/Tocharian B tarkär (“cloud”) from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerg- (“to darken”), apparently a variation of *dʰerk- (compare Lithuanian der̃kti (“to make dirty”) and Lithuanian dérgti (“to soil, to defile”)).

Snoj nonetheless connects *dьrča with *dьrkati, identical to Etymology 1.

Noun

*dь̀rča f

1. bad (cold, rainy, foggy) weather

   Synonyms: *dъzďь, *padorga

Declension

Declension of *dь̀rča (soft a-stem, accent paradigm a)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*dь̀rča	*dь̀rči	*dь̀rčę̇
genitive	*dь̀rčę̇	*dь̀rču	*dь̀rčь
dative	*dь̀rčī	*dь̀rčama	*dь̀rčāmъ
accusative	*dь̀rčǫ	*dь̀rči	*dь̀rčę̇
instrumental	*dь̀rčējǫ, *dь̀rčǭ*	*dь̀rčama	*dь̀rčāmī
locative	*dь̀rčī	*dь̀rču	*dь̀rčāsъ
vocative	*dь̀rče	*dь̀rči	*dь̀rčę̇

^* The second form occurs in languages that contract early across /j/ (e.g. Czech), while the first form occurs in languages that do not (e.g. Russian).

Related terms

• *padorga (“bad weather”), *sǫdorga (“hail”)
• *drězga (“murky, densely packed space; bush, hurst”)
• *drěgavъ, *drězgavъ (“dim, murky, unclear”)

Derived terms

• *dьrčavъ (“rainy, foggy, cold (for weather)”)

Descendants

• South Slavic:
  • Bulgarian: дъ́рча (dǎ́rča) (dialectal)
  • Macedonian: дрча (drča)
  • Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: др̏ча, др̑ча (dialectal)

    Latin script: dȑča, dȓča (dialectal)

  • Slovene: dŕča

Further reading

• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “дърча”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 466
• Snoj, Marko (2016) “dŕča”, in Slovenski etimološki slovar [Slovenian Etymology Dictionary] (in Slovene), 3rd edition, https://fran.si