gerwe

Old Prussian

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂ōws (“crane”), from *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”).

Noun

gerwe

  1. crane (bird)
    • Elbing German-Prussian Vocabulary
      Kranch   Gerwe

Sudovian

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic [Term?], from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂ōws. Compare Lithuanian gérvė, Latvian dzẽrve, Old Prussian gerwe, all meaning "crane".[1][2]

It seems "stork" and "crane" are switched, possibly due to the similarities between the birds, or a copying error. Compare ſterkaſ, garſ.

Noun

gerwe

  1. (zoology) stork
    • “Pagan dialects from Narew” line 207, (copied by V. Zinov, 1983):
      bośiań [bocian] — gerwe
      bośiań [bocian] — stork

References
  1. Zigmas Zinkevičius (1985) “Lenkų-jotvingių žodynėlis? [A Polish-Yotvingian dictionary?]”, in Baltistica, volume 21, number 1 (in Lithuanian), Vilnius: VU, →DOI, page 73: “gerwe ‘gandras, l. bośiań’ 207.”
  2. “gérvė” in Hock et al., Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch 2.0 (online, 2020–): “nar. gerwe sf. ‘Storch’”.
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