çekürgä

Meaning:
locust; grasshopper

The directly attested Old Turkic form is çekürgä, whereas *çekürtke is a comparative reconstruction based on the widespread later -rtk- forms. Clauson notes that this pronunciation may be original although it is not the oldest recorded form. In Kāšgarī, Oghuz çekürgä denotes a locust, while another Turkic usage refers specifically to a locust before it flies, i.e. a hopper or nymph.

In modern languages

Select a region to see the cognate.
Language Cognate
Turkmen çekirtge
Turkish (Azerbaijan) çəyirtkə
Turkish (Türkiye) çekirge
Salar The cognate has disappeared from this language.
Gagauz çekirgä
Crimean çegertki
Uyghur çekätkä
Uzbek çigirtka
Kazakh şegirtke
Nogai şegertki
Siberian Tatar tsigertke
Kyrgyz çegirtke
Altai çegertki
Alan seŋirçke
Kumyk çeŋertki
Tatar çikertkä
Bashkir siŋertkä
Tıva şergi
Khakas sağırtxı
Sakha (Yakut, Dolgan) saxsırğa*
Khalaj The cognate has disappeared from this language.
Chuvash The cognate has disappeared from this language.

* Meaning shifted

Examples

No corpus links yet.

Translations

German:
Wanderheuschrecke; Heuschrecke
Russian:
саранча; кузнечик
Turkish (Azerbaijan):
çəyirtkə
Turkish (Türkiye):
çekirge

  • Sergei Starostin, Anna Dybo, Oleg Mudrak (2003) Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages p. 412
    č῾ăk῾i a k. of insect: Tung. *čaKu- ( ~ š-); Mong. *čoku; Turk. *čekü-rtke.
    PTung. *čaKu- ( ~ š-) a k. of midge (мошка-мокрец): Evk. čakimukta; Neg. čoxomto; Ul. čōqta; Nan. čōqta.
    ◊ ТМС 2, 379.
    PMong. *čoku beetle (жук): WMong. čoqu (L 199); Kh. cox; Bur. soxo.
    PTurk. *čekü-rtke locust, grasshopper (саранча, кузнечик): Karakh. čekürge (MK Oghuz; Tefs.); Tur. čekirge; Az. čekirtge; Turkm. çekirtge; MTurk. čegürtke, čewürtke (Sangl.); Uzb. čigirtka; Uygh. čekätkä; Krm. čegirtke; Tat. čikertkɛ; Bashk. siŋertkä; Kirgh. čegirtke; Kaz. šegirtke; KKalp. šegirtke; Nogh. šegertki; Khak. saɣɨrtxɨ; Tv. šergi; Yak. saxsɨrɣa ‘fly’; Dolg. haksɨrga ‘fly’.
    ◊ VEWT 103, EDT 416-417, Лексика 187, Stachowski 94. Forms like Tat. dial. sikertke are a result of contamination with *sēk- ‘jump’.
    ‖ A Western isogloss. Note a labial vowel in the second syllable which in this case must be reflecting suffixation; Mong. *čoku < *čaku with a frequent secondary vowel assimilation.
  • Gerard Clauson (1972) An etimological dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish pp. 416b–417a
    PU(D) çekürge: one of several old names of animals and insects ending in -ge:; ‘locust’, later also ‘grasshopper’. S.i.a.m.l.g. w. a wide range of phonetic changes, -k-/-g-/-w-, etc., and esp. later in the word, where except in SW Osm. (but not Az. or Tkm.) -rg- is replaced by -rtk-; indeed this may be the original pronunciation, although it is not the oldest recorded. Cf. sarıçğa:. Xak./Oğuz xi çekürge: al-carād ‘locust’ in Oğuz, but among the Turks ‘(a locust) before it flies’ (i.e. a hopper); it is used as a simile for a large group of families (al-'ıyāl) or a large army one says çekürge: teg sü: ‘an army like a horde of locusts in density’ (katāfata(n)) Kaş. I 490: xiii(?) Tef. çekürge ditto 357: Çağ. xv ff. çegürtke (spelt) malax ‘locust’; also pronounced çewürtke San. 220r. 15; çewürtke (spelt) malax do. 222r. 5: Oğuz xi see Xak.: Kip. xiii al-carad (şarınçka:); Tkm. (PU) çekürge: (c-; unvocalized) Hou. 10, 18: xiv (PU) çekürge: (c-; so vocalized) al-carād Id. 45; ditto, but -g- so written Bul. 11, 1: xv carād çegertke (in margin in second hand Tkm. çekürge) Tuh. 11b. 5.
  • M Räsänen, I Kecskeméti (1969) Versuch eines etymologischen Wörterbuchs der Türksprachen p. 103b
    *čäkür-tkä: mtü. MA. čäkürgä ‘Heuschrecke’, AH. čäkirdäk, tar. čäkätkü, osm. čäkirgä, tel. čägärtki, čäγälγi, kar.T. čägirtkɛ, kzk. šegirtkä, kmk. ǯeŋŋirtke, čag. čigürtkä, otü. čögürtkä, kaz. čikirtkä, hak. saγyrtχy ‘саранча’, ? soj. šartylä id., ǯergi ‘кузнечик’
    S. auch kaz. sikərtkä id. < säk 408a