[bǣːrs]
CilmeFrom Proto-Balto-Slavic *berźas, *berźā (with the long ē caused by the level intonation: er̄ > ēːr), from *bʰerHǵós.
Dialectal Latvian bērze is closer to Old Prussian, while dialectal Latvian bērza is closer to Slavic. Cognates include Lithuanian béržas, Old Prussian berse, Proto-Slavic *berza, Old English beorc, Old High German birka, English birch, German Birke, Sanskrit भूर्ज (bhūrjá), Latin frāxinus (“ash tree”) (< *bʰr̥Hǵ-s-inos).
- declension-1, masculinebirch tree (gen. Betula)
“bērza lapa, malka, tāss” — birch leaf, wood, bark
“purva bērzs” — bog birch
“āra bērzs” — silver birch, European white birch
Formasbērzs(nominative, singular) · bērzi(nominative, plural) · bērza(genitive, singular) · bērzu(genitive, plural) · bērzam(dative, singular) · bērziem(dative, plural) · bērzu(accusative, singular) · bērzus(accusative, plural) · bērzu(instrumental, singular) · bērziem(instrumental, plural) · bērzā(locative, singular) · bērzos(locative, plural) · bērz(singular, vocative) · bērzi(plural, vocative) · bērza(alternative, dialectal) · bērze(alternative, dialectal)