Probably from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erkʷos (“bow, arrow”), as willow twigs were used to make bows due to their flexibility. Compare Latvian ērkšķis, Ancient Greek ἄρκευθος (árkeuthos), Old English earh (whence English arrow), Latin arcus (“arc, bow”).
*orkyta f
singular | dual | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
nominative | *orkyta | *orkytě | *orkyty |
genitive | *orkyty | *orkytu | *orkytъ |
dative | *orkytě | *orkytama | *orkytamъ |
accusative | *orkytǫ | *orkytě | *orkyty |
instrumental | *orkytojǫ, *orkytǫ** | *orkytama | *orkytami |
locative | *orkytě | *orkytu | *orkytasъ, *orkytaxъ* |
vocative | *orkyto | *orkytě | *orkyty |
* -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).